Hit-and-Run Causes Injury, Hospitalization In Westlake

A man is in the hospital Friday after he was struck by the driver of a red pickup who drove away from the scene in the Westlake district. Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division responded to a shots fired call at around 2:15 a.m. at Beverly Boulevard and Reno Street where they found the victim in the street, an LAPD spokesman told City News Service. Paramedics from the Los Angeles Fire Department determined that the man had not been shot and took him to a hospital with severe injuries sustained in the hit and run crash.

MyNewsLA

30-Year-Old Man Arrested For Allegedly Trying To Kidnap A Girl In Wilmington

Investigators tracked down the man who allegedly tried to kidnap an 11-year-old girl while she was walking home from school in Wilmington earlier this week. The Los Angeles Police Department arrested the suspect on Oct. 23, two days after 30-year-old Jose Jaime of Hawthorne allegedly grabbed the girl from behind. Officers booked him for aggravated kidnapping with a bail of $1 million. A Ring camera from across the street captured the ordeal. "You just don't expect something like that to happen, especially in front of your house," 17-year-old Yvonne said. The teenager said she saw the man who attacked the girl at around 3:15 p.m. as she walked home from school near M Street and Gulf Avenue. Yvonne said she had just gotten home when she first noticed the suspicious man parked across the street. "I go back to my business folding my clothes and that's when I see the little girl walking and I see the guy behind her," she said. The 11-year-old was almost home when the suspect walked up and grabbed her from behind. Yvonne said she witnessed everything. "That's when I see the little girl walking and I see the guy behind her," she said. "I saw him getting close to her and he put his arms around her. You can see the girl trying to move her way out of it."

CBS 2

Stolen Box Truck Driver Taken Into Custody On San Pedro Beach

Los Angeles Police Department Harbor Division officers took the driver of a stolen box truck into custody on San Pedro beach sands around 9:30 a.m. after the driver led police on a chase through surface streets in the area. Police put out spike strips several times, causing some of the Ryder truck's tires to blow out. At one point on Western Avenue and 19th Street, the driver stopped and looked like he was surrendering, but took off, driving on a front rim. The driver continued on Western Ave., leading into the Royal Palms Beach Park parking lot, ultimately hitting a dead end. He jumped out of the slow-rolling truck and ran onto the beach. Officers ultimately detained the driver.

CBS 2

Man Linked To Barney's Beanery Valet Attack In West Hollywood Pleads Not Guilty

A man charged with severely beating a longtime valet at the famed Barney's Beanery restaurant in West Hollywood in a seemingly unprovoked attack pleaded not guilty Thursday to attempted murder and other counts. Dorian Michael Gray, 28, was charged Tuesday with one felony count each of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, and two felony counts each of aggravated mayhem and battery with serious bodily injury, along with two misdemeanor battery counts, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The suspect is accused of attacking Efrain "Frankie'' Zarazua around 10:30 p.m. Sept. 14 outside the restaurant at 8447 Santa Monica Blvd. Surveillance video of the attack shows a shirtless assailant knocking Zarazua to the ground then stomping and repeatedly kicking him in the head. Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said they believe the same suspect also may have carried out at least four other assaults in the same general area within a 20-minute span, but injuries inflicted in those attacks were not as severe. "The victim was punched and he was knocked unconscious when he hit the ground, hit his head on the ground,'' sheriff's Detective Brandon Zeff told reporters Tuesday morning about the attack on Zarazua. "And then the suspect kicked the victim approximately seven times in the upper torso and in the head. Witnesses described him as also stomping on the victim's head during that incident.''

NBC 4

LA County Men Plead Guilty In ‘Ghost Guns’ Case

Two Los Angeles County men pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges for their roles in a scheme that used Instagram to sell more than 60 firearms, including unregistered “ghost guns” and machine gun conversion devices known as “Glock switches.” Salvador Lopez, 24, of Whittier entered his plea to two counts: engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license and aggravated robbery of money of the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Ivan Quintos, 27, of Azusa pleaded guilty to one count of firearms trafficking. Lopez’s sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 6, while Quintos is expected to be sentenced on Feb. 3, prosecutors said. The pair were charged in Los Angeles federal court in May along with Henderson, Nevada residents Mark Perez, 22, and Zachary Dry, 23. According to the 11-count indictment, from July 2023 to May, Perez and the other defendants used Instagram to coordinate and sell more than five dozen firearms. The weapons, some stolen, included ghost guns and Glock switches as well as firearms with obliterated serial numbers, court papers say.

MyNewsLA

4 Southern California Suspects Accused Of Defrauding $3.5 Million From Government Loan Program

Four Southern California suspects were accused of defrauding the government in a multi-million dollar scheme targeting the COVID-19 pandemic relief loan program. Vanessa M. Williams, 35, of Corona, and Denise Mata, 34, of Moreno Valley, were arrested and charged on a 23-count federal grand jury indictment Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Daryl D. Knighten Jr., 32, and Mikhail G. Hoalim, 33, were also charged in the scheme but remain at large. According to the indictment, from March to August 2021, the suspects submitted fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for themselves, family members, close associates and people they recruited. The loan program was created by Congress in 2020 to help businesses impacted by the pandemic. They reportedly promised to help their accomplices obtain COVID business loans in exchange for a cut of the proceeds, court documents said. Prosecutors said they lied to banks and the U.S. Small Business Administration on loan applications by including false information that the applicants were self-employed and that the loan money would be used for authorized business purposes. 

KTLA 5

BWC: Man Suffering Mental Health Crisis Charges At Florida Officers With Knife Before Fatal OIS

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday released snippets of body-camera video of what led to a man being shot dead last month by deputies responding to a suicide threat at a south Orlando hotel. The man was identified as 42-year-old Richard Green, whose girlfriend on Sept. 21 called 911 to report he was carrying a knife and threatening to kill himself. Deputies at the scene moved the woman, whose name has not been released, out of the room and spoke to Green as he stood near the open doorway. “Don’t hurt him. Please don’t do this,” she pleaded as deputies aimed their guns at the room. For 20 minutes, deputies urged him to come outside and tried assuring Green they wanted to help him. “Richard, please, I’m begging you,” one deputy said to Green, who at this point moved to sit on the couch. “Richard, please, drop the knife, man. Just come out and talk to us.” Moments later, the footage showed, Green sprinted out of the room, screaming while holding the knife over his head before six deputies sent a hail of gunfire toward him. Green was pronounced dead at a hospital. No other injuries were reported. The video mirrors what was relayed to news outlets by Sheriff John Mina shortly after the shooting took place.

Orlando Sentinel

NYPD Cops Pack Courtroom During Trial Of Man Who Shot Rookie Officer, Leaving Him ‘In Pain Every Day’

A rookie cop shot and wounded in a clash with a menacing Queens bus rider is still struggling with his injuries more than 18 months later, his union chief said Thursday. Fresh-faced Brett Boller, 22 at the time, was just months into his dream job as an NYPD officer when an encounter with an armed transient, who shot him in the hip, changed his life and career forever. “I spoke to Officer Boller the other day, and he told me what he went through for the last year and a half,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said ahead of the suspect’s attempted murder trial in Queens Criminal Court. “Three surgeries, constant physical therapy. He said to me, the things that were once routine are no longer routine. He relied on others to do the basic things in life — get out of bed, change his clothes.” Cops packed the courtroom where jury selection began in the trial of Devin Spraggins, 23, who is accused of opening fire on Boller after the cop confronted Spraggins on a Parsons Blvd. bus in April 2023. Prosecutors said Spraggins had been harassing a passenger over a seat when the driver flagged down Boller and his partner to intercede. The dispute quickly spilled from the bus onto the street, where Boller chased the suspect down. Spraggins pulled a gun and shot the officer in the hip during the ensuing scuffle, police said.

New York Daily News

Brush Fire Ignites In Hills Above Los Angeles’ Montecito Heights Neighborhood

Sky5 was overhead as a brush fire broke out above the Montecito Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles Friday morning. The fire was reported just after 6:30 a.m. in the 5000 block of North Griffin Avenue. Los Angeles firefighters arrived to find the brush burning on a slope above Griffin Avenue. The Fire Department said that air operations were executing water drops and no structures were threatened. Crews had stopped the fire’s forward progress and held the blaze to less than half an acre, the Fire Department stated in an update at 7:08 a.m. There was no immediate word on a possible cause of the fire.

KTLA 5

Residence Fire In North Hollywood Knocked Down

A fire in a residential structure in North Hollywood was knocked down Thursday. The fire, reported around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, was burning in a one-story home at 5467 Satsuma Ave., by Vineland Avenue and Burbank Boulevard in North Hollywood, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. In an operation of under 20 minutes, it took 36 firefighters to confine and extinguish the flames, LAPD added. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire was under investigation. Further details were unavailable.

MyNewsLA

L.A. Faces Pre-Olympics Security Test With World Series And Mega Lineup Of Sports Events

Los Angeles is expecting a heightened security atmosphere Friday as the city plays host to several high-profile sporting events, with simultaneous football, basketball and baseball games presenting something of a dry run for the upcoming World Cup and Olympic Games. Large crowds are expected for the Lakers’ second home game of the season at Crypto.com Arena, as well as at the Memorial Coliseum, where USC football will take on Rutgers. Friday will also see the annual East L.A. Classic between Garfield and Roosevelt high schools, with a halftime concert by the Black Eyed Peas. Announced ticket sales for the game at SoFi Stadium have nearly reached 13,000, which would be the largest crowd for a high school football game in California this year. But the most attention will be paid to Game 1 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium. Speaking to reporters at a Thursday morning news conference, Mayor Karen Bass said that she activated the city’s emergency response center to ensure a coordinated effort “With all of these events in town over the next few days, consider this practice for what will be coming in years in town,” she said. “Our message is: L.A. is ready.”

Los Angeles Times

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.