Law Enforcement News

Violent Week A Grim Sign As Targeted Killings Of Police Rise
The shooting deaths of two Connecticut officers and wounding of a third punctuated an especially violent week for police across the U.S. and fit into a grim pattern: Even as more officers left their jobs in the past two years, the number targeted and killed rose. According to organizations that track violence against police, 56 officers have been killed by gunfire this year — 14% more than this time last year and about 45% ahead of 2020's pace. The country is on track for the deadliest year since 67 officers were killed in 2016. While the figures include a few officers killed by accidental gunfire, the number of ambushes in which police were injured or killed in surprise attacks with little chance to defend themselves has soared since 2020 and accounts for nearly half the officers killed this year. Such an attack apparently struck Wednesday in Bristol, Connecticut, where the state police said Bristol Police Sgt. Dustin Demonte and Officer Alex Hamzy were killed and Officer Alec Iurato was wounded when they responded to a 911 call that appears to have been “a deliberate act to lure law enforcement to the scene.” At least 11 police officers were shot around the country this week, including one fatally in Greenville, Mississippi, and another in Las Vegas.
Associated Press

Bystander Killed In Violent Carjacking In South LA Is Identified
A bystander killed in a carjacking has been identified as Larry Walker. On Thursday, LAPD detectives were following 31-year-old Joshua Renau who was wanted in a shooting and deadly robbery case from July. Renau crashed in South Los Angeles and then allegedly carjacked Walker who got tangled in a seat belt. Walker was dragged for over two miles. Renau crashed again before finally surrendering, police said. Renau is expected in court Monday for his arraignment. Walker was 62 years old.
CBS 2

Student Suffers Possible Drug Overdose At Bernstein High School
A 17-year-old student was hospitalized for a possible drug overdose at Helen Bernstein High School on Friday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. A male student was found by school staff unresponsive from a possible overdose, said LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman. High school staff administered Narcan, the brand name of the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, she said. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the school in the 1300 block of Wilton Place and transported the victim to a hospital, where he is in stable condition, Eisenman said. Police have not released details about what kind of substance the student had ingested. Friday marks the second time a student at Bernstein has suffered an overdose in just over a month. Officials in September said nine students had overdosed across the district in the previous month, including seven linked to the Bernstein campus and Hollywood High School.
LA Times

Homeless Man Who Stabbed 22-Year-Old Woman In Head With Scissors In Unprovoked Attack Arrested: LAPD
Police in North Hollywood have arrested a homeless man who allegedly stabbed a 22-year-old woman in the head with scissors as she walked down the street in an unprovoked attack in broad daylight. Jonathan Cole, 30, was arrested and booked for attempted murder. His bail was set at $3,055,000. The case was presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, which filed one count of attempted murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. According to the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Division, around 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 10, the female victim was walking southbound on Lankershim Boulevard, near Hatteras Street, when a man walking in the opposite direction stabbed her in the head with a pair of scissors. Police said that the attack was made "without provocation." "The victim, with the scissors embedded into her head, fled to a local restaurant, where she asked for help and then collapsed on the floor," the LAPD wrote in a press release.
FOX 11

Burglars Break Into Megan Thee Stallion’s Hollywood Hills Home
Authorities are investigating a break-in at rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s Hollywood Hills home, where thieves made off with items worth potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars. The burglary — first reported by TMZ — occurred sometime Thursday night, a law enforcement source told The Times. The burglars were recorded on security video, the source said, and preliminary estimates indicate they made off with more than $300,000 in jewels, cash and other valuables. Megan Thee Stallion — whose real name is Megan Pete — appeared to reference the break-in Friday afternoon, writing on Twitter that “Material things can be replaced but I’m glad everyone is safe.” Stallion is in New York City for an appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” Her agent and attorney did not immediately reply to requests for further comment.
LA Times

Person Found Dead On Freeway In The West Adams District Of L.A.
A man was struck and killed Sunday morning by at least one vehicle on the Harbor (110) Freeway in the West Adams community of Los Angeles, authorities said. The California Highway Patrol received a call, about 5:05 a.m., of a person lying in the carpool lane of the southbound freeway at West Adams Boulevard, the CHP said. A representative from the coroner’s office was called out to the scene at 5:31 a.m. The southbound 110 has been closed at Washington Boulevard, with cars being diverted at Adams Boulevard while the investigation continues.
MyNewsLA

North Hollywood Man Gets 10 Years For Selling Ghost Guns, Methamphetamine
A North Hollywood man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for illegally selling unlicensed rifles and handguns, commonly referred to as ghost guns, as well as methamphetamine, officials said. Arthur Muradyan, 33, pleaded guilty in May to one count of engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license and one count of distribution of methamphetamine. Between August and September in 2021, Muradyan sold weapons including machine guns, short-barreled rifles and semi-automatic firearms with large capacity magazines to a federal law enforcement informant, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. He also sold around 420 grams of methamphetamine to the informant on September 8, prosecutors said, the same day he sold a semi-automatic 9mm handgun and a machinegun conversion device commonly called a “Glock switch.”
LA Daily News

Sheriff’s Department Seeks Shooter In Willowbrook Killing
A man in his 20s was fatally shot in Willowbrook early Saturday morning, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying the shooter. The man, believed to be 20 to 30 years old, was found around 2 a.m. suffering from gunshot wounds in the 2300 block of East El Segundo Boulevard. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, according to a release from the Sheriff’s Department. No suspect information is available, and the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the LASD Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. To provide information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or visit lacrimestoppers.org.
KTLA 5

East LA Massage Therapist Accused Of Sexual Assault
A massage therapist is accused of sexually assaulting multiple women, now officials are searching for any additional victims. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's said the suspect, 64-year-old Pedro Felix Romero, provides massage therapy services from his home in East Los Angeles. It is unknown if he targeted woman at his home or elsewhere. Officials believe there are additional victims and are asking for the public's help in identifying them. The case has been brought to the LA County DA's office, where they filed three felony counts of sexual penetration by force and one felony count of sexual battery with restraint. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Special Victims Bureau toll-free tip line at (877) 710-5273 or by email at [email protected]. You can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477) or by visiting lacrimestoppers.org.
FOX 11

‘He Was Hunting’: Suspect Arrested In Stockton Serial Killings
The Stockton Police Department and city officials announced on Saturday that an arrest has been made in connection to the series of killings in Stockton, KTLA sister station KTXL reports. Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden thanked several local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as the Stockton community, for their help in making the arrest. The arrest happened through community tips and “old-fashioned police work,” according to McFadden. The chief said that a surveillance team followed the suspect, Wesley Brownlee, 43, while he was driving. Officials watched his patterns and “determined early this morning that he was out looking to kill… he was hunting.” The suspect was stopped at around 2 a.m. in the area of Village Green Drive and Winslow Avenue, according to McFadden. In North Stockton, Village Green Drive turns into Winslow Way. McFadden said that when he was arrested he had a mask around his neck and was found with a firearm.
KTLA 5

Wounded Officer Shot, Killed Suspect Who Killed 2 Connecticut LEOs
A Connecticut police officer who was wounded in an apparent ambush that killed two of his fellow officers fired the shot that killed the attacker, police said. In a Facebook post Saturday, police in Bristol said Alec Iurato was hit by gunfire and returned fire on Wednesday, killing Nicholas Brutcher. The state medical examiner's office said Brutcher, 35, died from a gunshot wound to the neck with spinal cord injuries. Sgt. Dustin Demonte and Officer Alex Hamzy were gunned down outside a home where they had responded to a 911 call about possible domestic violence that authorities said appeared to be a deliberate act to lure police there. Witnesses said they heard about 30 gunshots during the confrontation. Iurato was released from the hospital on Thursday. Brutcher's brother, Nathan Brutcher, was wounded in the shootout. Nathan Brutcher hasn't been accused of playing any role in the attack.
Associated Press

At Least 269 K-12 Educators Arrested On Child Sex Crimes In First 9 Months Of This Year
Nearly 270 public educators were arrested on child sex-related crimes in the U.S. in the first nine months of this year, ranging from grooming to raping underage students. An analysis conducted by Fox News Digital found that from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, at least 269 educators were arrested, which works out to roughly one arrest a day. The 269 educators included four principals, two assistant principals, 226 teachers, 20 teacher's aides and 17 substitute teachers. At least 199 of the arrests, or 74%, involved alleged crimes against students. The analysis looked at local news stories week by week featuring arrests of K-12 principals, assistant principals, teachers, substitute teachers and teachers’ aides on child sex-related crimes in school districts across the country. Arrests that weren't publicized were not counted in the analysis, meaning the true number may well be higher. Only 43 of the alleged crimes, or 16%, did not involve students. It is not known whether another 10% of the alleged crimes involved students. Men also made up the vast majority, with over 80% of the arrests.
FOX News

Public Safety News

Firefighters Knock Down Fire At Metal Plating Facility In Sun Valley
A fire within a container at a metal plating facility was extinguished, authorities said. The fire was reported just before 7 a.m. Sunday in the 9900 block of North Glenoaks Boulevard in Sun Valley. Firefighters and a HazMat team were dispatched to the location where they extinguished the small fire. It remains unclear what was in the container, authorities said. No injuries were reported.
CBS 2

Two Years Later, LA County's COVID Hospitalizations Continue To Decline
The number of COVID-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals continued its gradual decline, dropping by nine people to 446, according to the latest state figures. The number of those patients in intensive care was 58 as of Saturday, up three from Friday's total. Those numbers come one day after local health officials reported 15 more deaths linked to the virus and 1,329 new infections, lifting the county's cumulative totals to 33,811 fatalities and 3,470,848 cases since the pandemic began. The official number of cases reported each day is believed to be an undercount of actual virus activity in the county, due to the prevalent use of at-home tests that are not always reported to the county, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. County officials have said that roughly 40% of the COVID-positive hospital patients were admitted specifically for COVID, while the others were hospitalized for other reasons but tested positive upon admission. The seven-day average rate of people testing positive for the virus was 3.9% as of Friday. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer noted Thursday that the past two winters have seen significant surges in infections, with more people spending time indoors and mingling in areas with reduced ventilation.
NBC 4

Concerns About A California Winter COVID Wave Increase As Europe Sees Rise In Cases
While coronavirus cases in California remain fairly under control, a new rise in Europe is fueling fresh concerns about a potential winter wave here. Britain, France, Germany and Italy have all reported increasing coronavirus cases since mid-September, according to data presented by Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. “Throughout the pandemic, trends and cases in Europe have served as a predictor for trending cases in the United States. This was true at the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020, and also before each of our subsequent surges. And we should be prepared for it to possibly be true again,” Ferrer said. Ferrer said there is no need for immediate concern about a number of new Omicron subvariants that health officials are closely tracking nationwide. Still, some experts are predicting the subvariants “have a greater evolutionary advantage than their predecessors, meaning that they’re more contagious; they can crowd out other circulating COVID viruses; and they can break through protection, such as prior infections and vaccinations.”
LA Times

Local Government News

Pressure Grows On De León And Cedillo To Step Down In LA City Council Scandal
Pressure continues to grow on Los Angeles City Council members Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo to resign in a racism scandal surrounding the city's redistricting process. Black Lives Matter protesters were staging a campout Sunday morning in front of de León's home in Eagle Rock, demanding that he step down for his role in a leaked conversation that has already prompted the resignations of former council president Nury Martinez and former L.A. County Federation of Labor president Ron Herrera. Protests caused the City Council to cancel Friday's scheduled meeting, and nearly all of their colleagues are urging de León and Cedillo to resign. The ongoing chaos has also exposed the ongoing political power struggle between Los Angeles' Black and Latino communities. A group of Black civil rights leaders scheduled a 10:30 a.m. news conference Sunday, when they are expected to demand that Martinez be replaced by one of the council's African American members to "demonstrate its commitment to Black political empowerment and political and racial healing.'' "The situation is fluid right now,'' Councilman Marqueece Harris- Dawson told City News Service on Friday.
NBC 4