Los Angeles Man Who Avoided Prison For Near-Fatal Stabbing Now Charged With Neighbor's Murder

A Los Angeles man who received no jail time and mental health diversion for a 2021 stabbing that nearly killed a construction worker is now charged with the murder of his neighbor. Stefen Sutherland, 31, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon in November 2020 after slashing a construction worker's neck because he was making noise, according to law enforcement sources. A Los Angeles probation official warned that there was a risk of further violence and asked a judge to put him in prison. But District Attorney George Gascon's office sought mental health diversion instead for the crime, which critics say was under-charged to begin with as an assault rather than attempted murder. On May 23, Sutherland allegedly shot Jennifer Gomez 19 times in her home. The two had previously clashed over noise complaints, according to sources close to the investigation. 

FOX 11

Security Guard Killed During Attempted Robbery At Gambling Club In Hollywood Hills

A security guard was shot and killed at an illegal gambling club in the Hollywood Hills near Universal Studios early Wednesday morning. Los Angeles Police Department officers responded around 4 a.m. to the 3300 block of Cahuenga Boulevard west of the Hollywood (101) Freeway where they found the victim. Authorities said two men entered the gambling club with ski masks and shot the security officer when he entered the building. Detectives say the security guard was armed, but did not shoot at the suspects. Police are still searching for the suspects as the investigation continues.

CBS 2

Teen Faces Charge In Woodland Hills Metro Bus Driver Stabbing

A 17-year-old boy has been accused in a juvenile court petition with an allegation of attempted murder in the stabbing attack on a Los Angeles Metro bus driver in Woodland Hills last week, multiple law enforcement sources have told NBC4's I-Team. The teenager was scheduled to make an initial appearance Wednesday morning at Sylmar Juvenile Court, but for unknown reasons he was not brought to the courtroom, the sources said. The hearing was closed to the public. The teen's family was at the courthouse but through its attorney declined to comment or discuss the case. The LA County District Attorney's Office, which filed the petition, declined to confirm the charge or discuss the case, citing privacy rules unique to juvenile court. The LAPD said the teenager was arrested last Thursday at his home in the Woodland Hills area, less than a day after the 61-year-old driver was attacked during a stop Wednesday afternoon along Topanga Canyon Boulevard near Erwin Street. The driver was stabbed in the chest, neck, and back, and LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the driver suffered critical injuries but was expected to recover. Moore said the driver and the teen had an argument after the teenager boarded the bus, and that the bus driver stopped in order to try to call for help.

NBC 4

Search Continues For Hit-and-Run Driver Who Left Man Severely Injured In Westlake

Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who left a pedestrian severely injured back on May 14 in the Westlake District. According to a statement from Los Angeles Police Department, the collision happened as the pedestrian was crossing the road at Third Street and Westlake Avenue at around 8 p.m. "As he was crossing westbound Third Street, a gray 2007-2010 Toyota Camry struck the victim from a behind," the statement said. "The collision caused the victim to fly in the air and land on the street.” After the crash, the driver continued to drive westbound, turning right onto northbound Alvarado Street without stopping to assist the pedestrian. The victim, who has not been identified, was taken to a hospital with severe injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening. 

CBS 2

LAPD Volunteer Recovering After Bee Attack, Eager To Return To Work

A Los Angeles police volunteer is still on the road to recovery, weeks after he was attacked by a swarm of angry bees in Encino. The entire ordeal was captured on live TV. Gary Knabenbauer has been a volunteer with the Los Angeles Police Department for nearly two decades. He was on the job in Encino on May 15, when he was seen live from SkyFOX, swarmed by the bees, which stung him repeatedly, forcing him to fall to the ground. Fire crews were already in the area, because the same group of bees had attacked another person. "As soon as they got out of the car, they came storming at my face," Knabenbauer said. "I was talking to my partner also they were trying to get at him through the windshield, they were hitting the windshield." After Knabenbauer fell to the ground, he tried to get up and move away, but the bees persisted. "They were on my eyes [I was] trying to get them out of my eyes and trying to keep my eyes closed, I didn't want to be stung in the eyeballs," he said.

FOX 11

Actor Danny Masterson Found Guilty Of 2 Counts Of Rape In Los Angeles Retrial

“That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson was led out in handcuffs from a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday and could get 30 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty on two of three counts of rape at his second trial, in which the Church of Scientology played a central role. Masterson’s wife, actor and model Bijou Phillips, gasped when the verdict was read and wept as he was taken into custody, while a group of family and friends who sat stone-faced behind him throughout both trials. The jury of seven women and five men reached the verdict after deliberating for seven days spread over two weeks. They could not reach a verdict on the third count, that alleged Masterson raped a longtime girlfriend. They had voted 8-4 in favor of conviction. Masterson, 47, will be held without bail until he is sentenced. No sentencing date has yet been set, but the judge told Masterson and his lawyers to return to court Aug. 4 for a hearing. “I am experiencing a complex array of emotions — relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness — knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behavior,” one of the women, whom Masterson knew as a fellow member of the church and was convicted of raping at his home in 2003, said in a statement.

KTLA 5

Tourists Stabbed And Groped By Homeless Man In Santa Monica Over Memorial Day Weekend

A homeless man was arrested over the Memorial Day Weekend after groping and stabbing multiple people near the Pier. Johnathan Peck was arrested at about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 27 and is accused of groping two women and then stabbing friends of the victims with a sharpened wooden stick. According to SMPD, officers were contacted by a Spanish-speaking tourist from Mexico who said that Peck had approached her and grabbed her breast. Peck walked away but remained nearby and when a friend of the victim confronted Peck about the groping he stabbed the friend in the face and neck with the stick. Peck fled the area but was later arrested by officers on the Pier. During the investigation, officers learned Peck was responsible for a second assault. According to officers, Peck grabbed another woman’s breast shortly and also stabbed her male companion with the stick. The two stabbing victims were transported to a local hospital for minor injuries.

Westside Current

Malibu Sniper: Man Convicted Of Murder In Killing Of Father At Malibu Creek State Park

A man who carried out multiple shootings in the area of Malibu Creek State Park, including the killing of a research scientist who was shot inside a tent while camping with his two young daughters, was convicted Friday of second-degree murder and other counts. Anthony Rauda, 46, who some dubbed the "Malibu Sniper," was also convicted of three counts of attempted murder and five counts of second-degree commercial burglary. The jury acquitted him of seven other attempted-murder charges. Prosecutors had been seeking a first-degree murder conviction for the June 22, 2018, killing of Tristan Beaudette as he camped with his daughters, but jurors convicted Rauda instead of the lesser charge of second-degree murder. Sentencing is scheduled for June 7.

FOX 11

Maryland Officer Driving To Work Seriously Injured In Collision With Suspected Impaired Driver

An off-duty Aberdeen police officer was seriously injured after his vehicle was struck head-on while he was driving to work Sunday morning. Just after 4 a.m., acting Cpl. James Haddix was driving to work from his home in Delaware when a suspected impaired driver crashed into his vehicle on Christiana Parkway in Newark, Delaware, according to the Aberdeen Police Department's Facebook post. Both vehicles were badly damaged. Haddix suffered severe life-threatening injuries and was transported to Christiana Hospital, where he remains in serious but stable condition, the post said. The Newark Police Department is handling the investigation.

PoliceOne

In America, Accidental Shootings Among Children Occur Nearly Every Other Day

On May 16, in Houston, a 4-year-old boy found a gun that belonged to a visiting relative and shot his 1-year-old brother in the leg, wounding him. Their father told a local news outlet that his older son liked to play with toy guns and probably didn’t realize this one was real. A reader, moved by tragedies like these, wrote in and asked us how often a child unintentionally shoots another child with an unsecured gun. Here’s what the data says: A shooting almost every other day. To answer the reader’s question, we pulled data from the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks shootings in near-real-time through news clips and police reports. We decided to look only at incidents in which both the shooter and the victim were under 13 years of age. Our analysis found that between May 1, 2022, and April 30, 2023, there were at least 162 incidents in which a child under 13 picked up a gun and fired it, inadvertently wounding or killing themselves or another child under 13. A total of 71 children were killed and 96 were injured.

The Trace

Firefighters Battle Large Fire At Commercial Building In Signal Hill, Sending Up Plume Of Smoke

Firefighters on Thursday battled a large fire that broke out at a commercial building in the Signal Hill area, which sent up a thick plume of black smoke that could be seen for miles. The fire was reported shortly after 5:30 a.m. on E. 28th Street, south of the 405 Freeway, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The blaze was quickly upgraded to a 2nd Alarm Fire, but firefighters eventually got a handle on the flames. It's unclear if anybody was inside the building or what caused the fire.

ABC 7

Officials Seek Help Identifying Hospital Patient In Northridge

Officials are asking for your help identifying a man who was found unconscious in Northridge. The unidentified man was found May 17 on the sidewalk near 18936 Runnymede Street. He was taken to a hospital for treatment. He is described as a man between 50 and 60 years old, with blue eyes, grayish/light brown hair, around 6 ft. tall, weighing 139 lbs. He does not have any tattoos or scars. Anyone with information is asked to call 747-242-73117 or 747-242-7866.

FOX 11

Violence And ‘Crisis’: How Hundreds Of L.A. County’s Abused Children Ended Up In Hotels

A woman stumbled into the palatial lobby of downtown Los Angeles’ Biltmore Hotel earlier this year, pleading for someone to call the police. Deep bruises were starting to form around her eyes. Blood crusted around her nostrils and mouth. She was so dazed that she didn’t notice a telephone cord wrapped around her neck. She was a social worker with the Department of Children and Family Services who said a 16-year-old foster boy battered and sexually assaulted her in one of the hotel’s guest rooms. The boy was one of hundreds of foster youths who Los Angeles County’s child welfare agency has placed in rented hotel rooms because it has no foster homes for them, according to reporting by the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley and The Times that included dozens of interviews as well as county records obtained under the California Public Records Act. The alleged attack — as well as another on a social worker by a foster youth at a different hotel weeks later — has sparked criticism from those within the agency who say that such violence was inevitable.

Los Angeles Times

LA Council Calls For Study Requiring Air Conditioning In All Residential Rental Units

The Los Angeles City Council, in a 13-0 vote, called Wednesday for a study on the feasibility of requiring cooling devices in all residential rental units, along with exploring potential programs to assist low- and middle-income tenants with costs related to air conditioning. Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez presented the motion, which instructed the city's Housing Department and Department of Building and Safety to report on potential code amendments to require cooling apparatus in all residential rental units. In the motion, Hernandez cites a need for the city to maintain the "highest standard" possible of livability as the climate change continues to escalate. "In recent years we have experienced summers of deadly heat over prolonged period and we must be prepared for those heat waves to both worsen and persist," the motion reads. "At this point in the climate emergency, the ability to cool one's home cannot be considered a luxury and rather must be treated as a necessity."

ABC 7

City Council Unveils Gloria Molina Legacy Pathway

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez led an unveiling Wednesday for the Gloria Molina Legacy Pathway, in honor of the late politician who was the first Latina elected to Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the City Council and the state Assembly. The ceremony was held on what would have been Molina’s 75th birthday. Molina, 74, died on Mother’s Day after battling cancer for three years. “I have to say this is probably by far the best present anyone could have given her; the fact that the crosswalk is going to be colored purple … I don’t think she would have ever imagined it in her wildest dreams,” said Valentina Martinez, Molina’s daughter. “I think that this is such a beautiful gift for her and her legacy and something she would have just loved. She would have really, really loved it,” Martinez said. Rodriguez and Martinez were joined by other council members, relatives of Molina and former staff members.

MyNewsLA

About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 9,200 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.