LAPD arrest man in connection with assault of 6-year-old girl in Santa Monica

Authorities have arrested a man for allegedly assaulting a 6-year-old girl who was walking on a street with her family in Santa Monica Sunday night.“The suspect involved in the March 10th assault on a minor in Santa Monica has been arrested by LAPD after another incident in Venice and is currently in their custody,” the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) said in a social media post. “SMPD detectives are working with LAPD to present our consolidated cases to the LA County District Attorney, aiming for a swift filing of felony child abuse charges.” A witness had said she saw a disheveled-looking man at a bus stop hitting the child without warning.

NBC Los Angeles

12 cited within 2 hours for selling alcohol illegally near LA Live

Twelve citations were issued for illegal sales of alcohol in downtown Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Six of those violations included sales of alcohol to minors, authorities said. The 12 suspects were cited within two hours for selling alcohol the evening of March 13 near LA Live, police said. Additionally, 12 parking and 6 moving violations were issued, police added. One vehicle was also impounded. The citations were made as part of targeted enforcement to crack down on the illegal sales of alcoholic beverages by street vendors. 

Fox LA

LAPD forming task force to target organized teams of foreign burglars

The LAPD said Tuesday it was forming a task force with other police agencies to target organized groups of burglars who visit the U.S. from foreign countries, and have been responsible for an increasing number of home break-ins. “I can tell you that we have a significant increase in burglaries from organized groups that are outside this country, that are coming into the country, and they are targeting high end residents," Chief Dominic Choi said Tuesday. "And, we are addressing that specifically in a task force fashion, through multi-agencies," he said. Choi told the Board of Police Commissioners that while the number of property crimes reported to police have declined slightly in early 2024, the number of home burglaries have remained nearly unchanged from this time last year.

NBC Los Angeles

5 suspects arrested during burglary of occupied Southern California home

Five young men are in custody after police in Burbank busted up a residential burglary of an occupied residence that was in progress Tuesday night, authorities announced. The incident unfolded just before midnight on Mar. 12 in the 3600 block of Viewcrest Drive, a news release from the Burbank Police Department stated. Two burglary suspects waiting in a vehicle near the front of the residence were immediately located by responding officers and taken into custody. The three other suspects fled on foot into the surrounding neighborhood and hillside, police said. 

KTLA

Anaheim police arrest man after video captures him allegedly abusing dog

Anaheim police arrested a man for allegedly abusing a dog. The alleged abuse happened on March 9 in the 1400 block of S. Sunkist Street after hearing about a man abusing a dog. The Orange County Animal Care seized the terrier mix the following day and took it to a local animal hospital to be evaluated. Officers from the Anaheim Police Department arrested Maynard Allen for animal cruelty on March 13. 

KCAL

High school student arrested for violent attack on security guard in O.C.

Authorities have arrested an 18-year-old high school student in connection with the violent attack and assault on a security guard at an upscale community in Orange County, officials confirmed to KTLA.

Aidan Grogan, 18, was arrested Thursday at Yorba Linda High School at around 12 p.m., according to officials with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The incident at East Lake Village in Yorba Linda occurred at around 9 p.m. on March 3, according to a post in a private social media group obtained by KTLA’s Shelby Nelson.  

KTLA

S.F. hit with another lawsuit over drug crisis, alleging Tenderloin is a ‘containment zone’

Once again, San Francisco is being sued — and may be forced to take action — over the conditions in its most beleaguered neighborhood. A group of Tenderloin residents and businesses filed a federal lawsuit Thursday accusing the city of tolerating open-air drug markets and crowded encampments, a reflection of longstanding frustrations over street conditions in the area. The legal challenge comes amid a broader debate over how the city should respond to its most serious problems, a tension now animating a difficult re-election fight for Mayor London Breed, who has made addressing the city’s opioid and homeless crises her top priority.

San Francisco Chronicle

Homicides in the biggest Bay Area cities declined for the first time in four years in 2023

After seeing homicides rise for four straight years amid the upheaval of the pandemic, the Bay Area’s biggest cities together recorded a 4% decrease in 2023, a welcome reversal that police officials and community leaders hope will continue. Killings across the region’s 15 most populous cities dropped from a total of 305 in 2022 to 292 last year, according to a Chronicle analysis of police data.Last year’s drop was not unique to the Bay Area. An examination of a group of 32 cities of varying sizes across the country found a 10% overall decrease in homicides last year compared with 2022, according to the Council on Criminal Justice, a think tank.

San Francisco Chronicle

California mom alleged 'ringleader' behind $8M retail theft ring that hit over 200 Ulta stores, others: AG

A California mom is accused of orchestrating a nationwide shoplifting scheme that stole millions of dollars' worth of makeup and clothing from hundreds of stores for more than a decade, according to the California Department of Justice. According to a complaint filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, more than $300,000 worth of makeup and other products were found in Michelle Mack, 53, and Kenneth Mack's shared Bonsall home when a search warrant was served on Dec. 6, 2023. Mack allegedly paid for airfares, hotels and car rental costs for up to a dozen women who would go out and steal goods before sending them to Mack's home. Mack would then allegedly sell the stolen goods at a discount on her Amazon Marketplace storefront.

Fox News

California Prosecutors Filing Murder Charges in More Fentanyl Deaths

Just about every state in America has cracked down on fentanyl distribution, by stepping up arrests and increasing prison sentences. But few places are as aggressive as Riverside County, Calif., in prosecuting people who supply fatal doses of fentanyl. Since late 2021, the Riverside County district attorney, Mike Hestrin, has charged 34 suspected fentanyl suppliers with murder and is said to be the first prosecutor in California to achieve a guilty verdict from a jury in a fentanyl-related homicide trial.

New York Times

James Crumbley, who bought gun used by son to kill 4 students, guilty of manslaughter in Michigan

The father of a Michigan school shooter was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, a second conviction against the teen’s parents who were accused of failing to secure a gun at home and doing nothing to address acute signs of his mental turmoil. The jury verdict means James Crumbley has joined Jennifer Crumbley as a cause of the killing of four students at Oxford High School in 2021, even without pulling the trigger. Jennifer Crumbley was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in February.

NBC Los Angeles

How Pittsburgh public safety officials plan for St. Patrick's Day and other large, citywide events

Hundreds of thousands of revelers are expected to pour into Downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday for the city’s massive St. Patrick’s Day parade, and huge crowds will likely spill into other pockets of the city for daylong events. Shootings at a parade in Kansas City last month and at a Philadelphia bus stop last week give pause and pose the question: How do the city’s public safety branches keep the mass of visitors safe? Planning is key, said emergency management coordinator Chief Darryl Jones. “I cannot stop a shooting from happening,” Chief Jones said. “But we can be prepared to respond to it as fast as possible.”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

LA's most contested primary race may have biggest surprise

The most contentious primary race in Los Angeles may have the biggest surprise after all. Ysabel J. Jurado, a first-time candidate and a tenant attorney, is leading the contest for Los Angeles City Council District 14, jumping ahead of the embattled incumbent, Kevin de León as the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk nears the ballot-counting process. The dark horse candidate, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, is the latest candidate who could move the LA City Council further to the left. Jurado is opposed to Mayor Karen Bass’ plan to increase the LAPD budget. The progressive candidate also hopes to repeal the ban against homeless encampments in front of schools and daycare centers. 

NBC Los Angeles

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.