L.A. Organized Retail Thefts: Law Enforcement Leaders Point To County's Zero-Bail Policy

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore and L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna spoke out a public-safety summit Sunday, addressing topics including recent "flash mob" smash-and-grab thefts. We've seen quite a few lately here in the Southland. The two men held a public safety summit in Ladera Heights on Sunday and agreed that part of the issue lies in Los Angeles County's zero-bail policy, which they say they're now working to change. "The purpose of bail is a deterrent," said LAPD Chief Moore. "It's a deterrence to cause people to say 'I'm not going to go down this path, because if I go down this path and commit this crime, I'm going to lose my freedom.'" "What we're saying is we need a moderate approach," said Sheriff Luna. A Southern California task force that includes local and federal personnel was formed to address organized retail-theft rings. Last week the task force announced 11 arrests related to local "flash mob" robberies. According to the National Retail Federation, retail losses totaled nearly $100 billion in 2022, and organized retail crimes were up 26 percent.

CBS 2

Investigation Underway After Masked Suspects Break Into Encino Home, Steal Jewelry

Los Angeles police are looking for several suspects after officers swarmed an Encino neighborhood Monday night to investigate a home invasion robbery. The robbery was reported around 9:40 p.m. at a home on Aqueduct Avenue, just off Haskell Avenue and south of the 101 Freeway. According to the LAPD, several people were home, including kids, when the masked suspects broke in. One of the suspects was armed with a gun. Police say the suspects got away with jewelry, but the residents were not injured. Officers were sweeping the area looking for evidence and any surveillance video captured by other homes. 

ABC 7

Mom Re-Arrested In 2018 Murder Of Nurse In Rolling Hills Estates Mall Parking Garage

Prosecutors have filed murder and robbery charges against a woman who was previously arrested, then released, in connection with the killing of Susan Leeds, who was stabbed to death in the parking lot of the Peninsula Shopping Center in Rolling Hills Estates in 2018. Cherie Townsend was arrested Aug. 17 by the LA County Sheriff's Department and charged on Aug. 23, according to booking and court records. She was being held in lieu of $2 million bail. Sheriff's Homicide Bureau detectives said they were unavailable this week to discuss the developments in the case, but sent a statement that suggested new evidence had been found to support the criminal charge. "During the past five years, investigators have continued to conduct interviews, gather evidence, and analyze evidence which was presented to the LADA’s Office for filing consideration," the Sheriff's Department said. The criminal complaint filed in court in Torrance accuses Townsend, 45, of first degree murder for Leeds' homicide on May 3, 2018, and it includes an allegation that Townsend personally used a knife in the attack. The complaint also charged her with with robbery, and she was scheduled to return to court in September to enter pleas to the charges. Townsend has maintained her innocence since the first arrest, telling the I-Team in an interview that the only reason she was linked to the killing was because she accidentally dropped and left her cellphone in the parking lot of the mall close to the murder scene.

NBC 4

3 Uber Riders Killed, Driver And Fourth Passenger Hospitalized After South L.A. Car Crash

Three people were killed and three others hospitalized Saturday after a vehicle slammed into an Uber rideshare vehicle full of passengers in South Los Angeles. California Highway Patrol responded to a call about 5:25 a.m. of a collision at the intersection of South Vermont Avenue and West Century Boulevard in Westmont in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, authorities said. According to local media reports, a northbound white Mercedes sedan entered the intersection at a noticeably high speed when it crashed head-on into a black Honda operating as an Uber rideshare. The force of the collision sent the Honda spinning, ejecting one female passenger who died at the scene, KTLA reported. Two other female passengers extracted from the wreckage of the Honda were also pronounced dead at the scene, according to the station. A fourth female passenger and the Honda’s male driver were taken to the hospital, as was the driver of the Mercedes. A witness told KTLA that the Honda appeared to be waiting to turn left when the Mercedes approached.

Los Angeles Times

George Tyndall, Ex-USC Gynecologist, Pleads Not Guilty Of Sex-Related Charges

Former University of Southern California gynecologist George Tyndall pleaded not guilty to sex-related charges when he appeared before a judge Friday at the criminal courts building in downtown Los Angeles. Tyndall was charged with sex-related crimes against 16 of his former patients. One of the alleged victims asked the judge to "expedite the process as much as possible," adding that the victims have been waiting "a long time to see justice." "Our day will come, justice will come. We will see Tyndall tried and accounted for," said the alleged victim outside the courthouse. "He will go to court and he will go to jail." The 76-year-old worked at USC's health clinic for almost three decades. His patients were as young as 18, 19 and 20, according to officials. "That's how he gets away with this ... In their mind, they think what's being done is correct," said Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller. Myeller added that Tyndall's patients were "unable to resist" because they were not aware of the nature of what Tyndall was doing. He is charged with 27 felonies, 18 counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person and nine counts of sexual battery. 

FOX 11

Juvenile Suspects Jump Over Store's Gun Counter In Culver City Robbery Caught On Video

Surveillance video shows the moment a group of juvenile suspects robbed a Big 5 store in Culver City. The footage captured on Thursday shows the suspects jumping over the gun counter inside the store on Sepulveda Boulevard, according to the Culver City Police Department. One of them punched a store employee and another is accused of making threats while reaching toward his waistband. The suspects took off with several replica BB guns, but they only got a few blocks away before officers found and arrested them. They were booked and released to their respective guardians. 

ABC 7

Man Booked For Attempting To Steal $40k Rolex In Santa Monica

The Santa Monica Police Department arrested an individual after a failed attempt to steal a $40,000 Rolex. On Monday, August 21, 2023, the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) responded to the Rolex store located at 159 Santa Monica Place for a robbery in progress. During the robbery, multiple employees activated emergency alarms, triggering a police response. While officers were enroute, City of Santa Monica Dispatchers relayed that onsite security were attempting to detain the combative suspect. Upon arrival, SMPD officers quickly took Terrence Allen into custody. During the investigation, officers learned that Allen entered the store, requested to view a watch valued at $40,000 and once in hand, he attempted to flee. Allen immediately encountered armed security stationed outside and after a brief struggle the property was recovered. Terrence Allen, a 26-years-old male from Florida, was booked into the Santa Monica Jail and later charged by the Los Angeles District Attorney with armed robbery (211PC) and Grand Theft (487PC). Bail was set at $125,000. Allen was also found to be wanted for a robbery out of the state of Georgia.

Westside Current

San Fernando Valley Man Admits To Bilking More Than $300K From Pandemic Relief Programs

A Porter Ranch man faces up to two decades in federal prison after he pleaded guilty Thursday to defrauding the federal government out of hundreds of thousands of dollars during the COVID-19 pandemic. Artur Chanchikyan, 55, received a total of more than $345,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration as the owner of North Hollywood-based Gentle Touch Home Health Care, the DOJ said in a news release. Though he was accused of fraud and suspended from receiving Medicare payments by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in December 2019, he applied about four months later for a Paycheck Protection Program loan worth $160,000. “In the PPP application, Chanchikyan made false representations, including the number of employees to whom Gentle Touch paid wages and Gentle Touch’s average monthly payroll expenses at the time of the application, and false certifications that the loan would be used for permissible business purposes by Gentle Touch,” the DOJ said. “As a result, Gentle Touch received approximately $45,472 in PPP loan proceeds.”

KTLA 5

5 Hospitalized In Pasadena Shooting

Five people were hospitalized after a shooting in Pasadena on Friday night. Pasadena Police responded to reports of gunshots heard at an apartment complex on the 100 block of E. Orange Grove Boulevard around 7:33 p.m. Arriving officers found five injured victims at the scene, all in serious to critical condition, police said. Four people were transported by fire crews to a local hospital. The fifth victim transported themself to the hospital, police said. Authorities believe the shooting may have been caused by some sort of fight breaking out. No suspect information was released and no arrests were made so far. Neither the victims’ ages nor identities have been released. Sky5 video from the scene shows evidence markers all around a carport area of the apartment complex.

KTLA 5

Oklahoma Sheriff's Office Names The BTK Killer As The ‘Prime Suspect’ In At Least Two Unsolved Cases

The BTK serial killer has been named the “prime suspect” in two unsolved killings — one in Oklahoma and another in Missouri — leading authorities to dig this week near his former Kansas property in Park City, authorities announced Wednesday. Osage County, Oklahoma, Undersheriff Gary Upton told The Associated Press that the investigation into whether Dennis Rader was responsible for additional crimes started with the re-examination last year of the 1976 disappearance of Cynthia Kinney, a 16-year-old cheerleader in Pawhuska. The case, which was investigated on and off over the years, was reopened in December. Sheriff Eddie Virden told KAKE-TV that a bank was having new alarms installed across the street from the laundromat where Kinney was last seen. Rader was a regional installer for ADT at the time, although the sheriff wasn't able to confirm that Rader installed the systems. He also was involved in Boy Scouts in the area. Virden said he decided to investigate when he learned that Rader had included the phrase “bad laundry day” in his writings.

Associated Press

LA County, California Seeing Rising COVID Metrics

After months of declining numbers, state and local health officials are reporting an uptick in COVID-19 transmission and an increase in the number of COVID-positive patients in hospitals. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported increased COVID-19 transmission for the fifth consecutive week on Thursday. The department logged an average of 512 daily cases for the most recent week in which data were available, a nearly 35% increase from the week before. Daily average deaths were 1.7, up from 1 the previous week. A majority of people who die with COVID-19 are elderly or have an underlying health condition such as diabetes, heart disease or hypertension, health officials have said. County health officials said the increase “is likely the combined result of multiple factors, including summer travel, return to school, and the emergence of new COVID-19 variant strains.” Experts have said that wastewater concentrations of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, provide a more complete picture of virus levels in the community.

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.