2 LAPD Officers Hit By Driver Suspected Of DUI During Chase Investigation On Freeway

Two Los Angeles Police Department officers were injured Tuesday morning when they were struck by a car on the 57 Freeway in Fullerton. The officers were injured around 2 a.m. as they were in their patrol car searching the freeway for a weapon that a was believed to have been thrown out of a vehicle during a pursuit earlier Tuesday morning. The person wanted in the pursuit was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft. As the officers were searching the freeway after the chase, a woman driving an Infiniti slammed into the rear of their patrol car, injuring the officers, police said. That driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI, the CHP said. The officers were taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange. LAPD Chief Michel Moore said they are expected to recover. "These officers were essentially scanning the roadway… with all their lighting equipment on," Moore said. "This was a substantial speed with which they were struck from behind." The California Highway Patrol issued a SigAlert for the northbound 57 Freeway and Yorba Linda Boulevard and closed all lanes of the freeway in both directions as they investigated the crash. The cross-county pursuit started in the South LA area, continued to Orange County, then circled back to LA County. The chase started around midnight Tuesday when officers from the LAPD Newton division located a stolen vehicle at Washington Avenue and Maple Avenue in Historic South Central. When the driver refused to stop, officers began to follow the car, according to the LAPD. Video from the scene showed LAPD patrol cars were moving at a high speed to catch up to a white vehicle.

NBC 4

Man Wounded In Shooting At Reseda Park

A 24-year-old man was hospitalized Tuesday after he was shot in Reseda Park in Reseda. Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division responded at 1:45 a.m. to the park 11841 Victory Blvd. between Reseda Boulevard and Vanowen Street regarding an assault with a deadly weapon suspect, an LAPD spokeswoman told City News Service. Upon their arrival, the officers learned the victim was alone in the park where he was approached by a man, who drew a gun and shot at him twice, striking the victim once, police said. The victim was taken to a hospital in stable condition. The suspect ran out of the park in an unknown direction, police said.

MyNewsLA

A$AP Rocky Must Stand Trial On Charges He Fired Gun At Former Friend

A Los Angeles judge ruled Monday that there is enough evidence for A$AP Rocky to stand trial on charges that he fired a gun at a former friend and collaborator outside a Hollywood hotel in 2021. Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar made the ruling at at a preliminary hearing, after hearing roughly a day and a half of testimony. Rocky has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. The 35-year-old hip-hop star, fashion mogul and two-time Grammy nominee is in a relationship with Rihanna, with whom he has two young sons. Villar said “the totality of the video and testimony” shows there is sufficient evidence for the defendant to go to trial. She emphasized that preliminary hearings have a much lower evidence standard than a trial. Rocky, sitting in the courtroom, showed no visible reaction. “We’re not disappointed, not surprised, we expected to go to trial, we’ve been planning for trial all along,” Rocky’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, said outside court. “Rocky is going to be vindicated when all this is said and done, without question.”

Los Angeles Daily News

Flash Mob Steals $12K In Merchandise From Watts Nike Store, Police Say

About $12,000 in merchandise was stolen in a brazen flash mob robbery at a Nike store in Watts Sunday, according to Los Angeles police. The LAPD says 17 people ransacked the store located in the 9800 block of South Alameda Street just before 6 p.m. The people involved were described as four females and 13 males, believed to be 15 to 20 years old. Investigators say they arrived and then fled the scene in five vehicles. Footage posted on the Citizen app shows people grabbing armloads of shirts and fleeing with bags full of merchandise. Police are now asking for the public's help in identifying the suspects. 

ABC 7

Charges Announced Against Man Who Pointed Firearm At Larchmont Charter School In West Hollywood

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced charges against the man who allegedly pointed a firearm at a Larchmont Charter Elementary School staff member in West Hollywood last week. Vahe Armen, 32, has been charged with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon or by means likely to cause great bodily injury on a school employee and one count of weapons on a school grounds, after he was seen pointing what appeared to be a long rifle at the Larchmont campus on Thursday. "In an era plagued by an epidemic of mass shootings at schools across our nation, every parent in America faces an unimaginable fear when they send their child to school," Gascón said. "It is an unfair burden that no parent should bear. We must prioritize the safety and well-being of our community, particularly our children. They deserve nothing less than a nurturing environment free from the threat of violence."

CBS 2

Panorama City Man Arrested With Hundreds Of Pills, Fentanyl, Cocaine, Heroin, Gun: VCSO

A Panorama City man has been arrested for allegedly possessing hundreds of narcotic pills, including some containing fentanyl. Albert Eklund, 41, was selling drugs out of his Panorama City apartment, including to Ventura County residents, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Authorities raided that apartment in the 14000 block of Lanark Street in the early hours of Nov. 9, where they found “a loaded handgun, 82 grams of fentanyl, 137 grams of methamphetamine, 35 grams of cocaine, 5 grams of heroin, 1500 amphetamine pills, 70 counterfeit fentanyl pills, PCP laced cigarettes and several hundred other pharmaceutical pills,” officials said. Eklund faces charges of possession of a controlled substance for sale, possession of a dangerous drug for sale, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. As of Monday, Eklund had been released from custody on bail, which the VCSO initially said was set at $100,000. He is due to appear in Ventura County Superior Court on Jan. 12, 2024.

KTLA 5

Man Convicted In Grisly Beheading Of California Mother

A man was found guilty of murder on Monday in the beheading of his child's mother outside a home in San Carlos. Jose Landaeta, 34, was the estranged boyfriend of Karina Castro, who was 27 years old at the time of her death. Landaeta was charged with first-degree murder in the gruesome attack that happened on September 8, 2022. The defendant killed Castro in broad daylight on a street, just feet from her apartment. Prosecutors said that Castro suffered repeated blows to the neck with a samurai at the hands of Landaeta. Castro and Landaeta shared a young daughter, and Castro also had an older daughter from a previous relationship. The trial took place at the Redwood City Hall of Justice and took several twists and turns, including Landaeta abruptly stopping his testimony while on the witness stand. He also refused to appear during closing arguments last week. Landaeta faces 26 years to life in prison. 

FOX 11

Virginia State University Officer Shot On Duty Paralyzed From The Waist Down

A campus police officer at Virginia State University has been paralyzed from the waist down after being shot while responding to a disturbance, 13News Now reported. The Nov. 12 shooting occurred when Officer Bruce Foster stopped and began talking with a group that was causing a disturbance, according to the report. After falsely identifying himself to Foster, one person, now identified as 21-year-old Reginald L. King Jr., ran away on foot. As Foster ran after King Jr., a second suspect, now identified as 21-year-old Deonta M. Blount, shot Foster in the back. Both suspects fled and Foster was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to the report. Since the incident occurred, Foster’s condition has improved to stable and both suspects have been found and arrested, the Chesterfield County Police Department told 13News Now. An online fundraiser created by the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police states that doctors have diagnosed Foster with paralysis from the waist down, according to the report. “As the wife of a police officer, you live with a constant undercurrent of worry, but Bruce’s strength and dedication always bring a sense of calm,” Foster’s wife, Diedra, wrote and posted on the fundraiser page. “That calm was shattered early Sunday morning when I received the call that Bruce had been shot while on duty at Virginia State University. The man who left our home, strong and full of resolve, was now fighting for his life in a hospital bed, with his family surrounding him, praying for returned sensation from the waist down.”

PoliceOne

NYPD Cruiser Set Ablaze By Repeat Offender Out On Parole

A convicted arsonist out on parole set fire to an NYPD cruiser, the New York Post reported. James Figueroa, 31, has been arrested on suspicion of arson after he allegedly crawled under an NYPD cruiser and lit a fire that burned the driver’s side door, according to the report. The door and ballistic panel had fire damage, while the driver's side window was shattered, damage that will cost more than $1,500, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Post. The Nov. 18 incident was Figueroa’s second offense involving an NYPD vehicle since his release from state prison on parole four months ago. He was arrested Nov. 9 for smashing the windshield of an NYPD utility van but was released from jail shortly after because his criminal mischief charge was not eligible for bail under state justice reforms, according to the report. In the arraignment for the Nov. 18 incident, Figueroa’s bail was set at $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond. 

PoliceOne

Woman Critically Injured In South Los Angeles House Fire

A woman was critically injured when a home erupted in flames early Tuesday morning in the West Adams neighborhood of South Los Angeles. The fire was reported shortly before 3 a.m. in the 2800 block of South Palm Grove Avenue. Nearly three dozen firefighters knocked down the blaze in less than half an hour. Once inside, firefighters located a victim in critical condition. The victim, identified only as a 60-year-old woman, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department stated in a news alert. The cause of the fire is under investigation. An arson team was sent to the scene due to the serious injury resulting from the fire.

KTLA 5

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.