Chase Of Possibly Armed Gang Members In South LA Leads To LAPD Cruiser Crash

Los Angeles police officers were injured in a crash during a pursuit of suspected armed gang members through the South Los Angeles area Monday night. At least one LAPD cruiser crashed and ended up on a sidewalk, narrowly missing a fire hydrant. Ambulances were called to transport two officers to a local hospital. They were treated for minor injuries and released. The chase began just after 9 p.m. on surface streets in South LA. Officers believed the suspects to possibly be gang members involved in a carjacking. They were fleeing Newton Division gang officers in a silver Mercedes and were believed to be armed. The chase lasted for roughly half an hour and stayed on surface streets within the South Los Angeles area. At one point the vehicle's tires and engine appeared to be smoking. When they finally pulled over near S. Manhattan Place and 52nd Street, smoke was pouring from the hood. At least three suspects then placed their hands out the window and complied with orders to surrender. 

ABC 7

Spirit Air, Cramped Hotels, In-N-Out: Police Say Chicago Hit Men Killed In L.A. On A Budget

Julian Bynum walked out of a townhouse in North Hollywood, oblivious to the man crouched behind a car with a gun. The Chicago native was having problems with a roommate. Each accused the other of theft. The roommate was missing a gold chain; Bynum was out a Rolex. To settle the issue, police suspect the roommate turned to a professional killer. The same suspect is also charged with killing three people and wounding six more in the upscale Westside neighborhood of Benedict Canyon in 2023. Both cases trace their origins to Chicago, according to records reviewed by The Times. And last week, in an unrelated indictment brought by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, the Chicago rapper Lil Durk was charged in an alleged murder-for-hire plot that left a man dead near the Beverly Center. The alleged hit men in all three cases are not the urbane assassins of James Bond or Jason Bourne films. According to court records, they flew on Spirit Airlines and slept five to a single hotel room. Sometimes, police said, they got sloppy leaving DNA at crime scenes and forgetting to turn off their phones.

Los Angeles Times

L.A.'s New Top Cop Faces Immigration Policy Scrutiny

The Los Angeles City Council confirmed Jim McDonnell as the city's new police chief Friday in an 11-2 vote, but not before a contentious meeting where immigrant rights activists voiced strong opposition to his appointment. As reported by LAist, nearly 100 speakers took the floor during the hours-long session, with most expressing concerns about McDonnell's track record on immigration enforcement during his tenure as L.A. County sheriff. The council chambers buzzed with tension as speakers like Bruno Huizar of the California Immigrant Policy Center voiced their objections. "We strongly oppose McDonnell's appointment due to his prior history of colluding with ICE," Huizar told the council, pointing to Tuesday's presidential election results as a reason for heightened concerns about immigration enforcement. McDonnell, however, didn't shy away from addressing these concerns head-on. "I want to be clear to all people of Los Angeles, especially our immigrant community, which is feeling uncertainty and fear: This is a city of immigrants and my job is to serve you," he said during the meeting. The new chief was particularly emphatic about rejecting any notion of LAPD involvement in immigration enforcement. "What I can say here is any talk of mass roundups or the Police Department being involved in that thing, we don't do that kind of thing," he stated firmly. The appointment wasn't without its supporters. Victor Dominguez, president and CEO of YMCA's of Metro Los Angeles, praised McDonnell as "a leader that truly understands the diverse communities that Los Angeles is made up of."

Yahoo! News

Man Arrested For Allegedly Shooting Teenage Girl At Party In Harvard Park

A man was arrested for allegedly shooting a teenage girl at a party in Harvard Park on Saturday evening. It happened at around 10:20 p.m. at a home in the 1700 block of W. Slauson Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Officers arrived and found that a 17-year-old girl was leaving the party when she was grazed by a bullet that was allegedly fired by a 35-year-old man. Investigators say that she was not the intended target in the shooting. The man was arrested at the scene after staying at the party, police said. The victim was treated at the scene and released. There was no information on the motive behind the shooting and the person who was targeted in the alleged shooting. 

CBS 2

Man Shot, Hospitalized In Watts

A man was hospitalized in critical condition Monday morning after he was shot in the Watts area of South Los Angeles. The shooting was reported at 11:23 p.m. Sunday and the victim told officers he was in the Imperial Courts public housing project at 11541 Croesus Ave. at Grape Street when it happened, Los Angeles Police Department Officer D. Orris told City News Service. The 30-year-old victim was rushed to a hospital by paramedics before he could provide officers with suspect information, Orris said.

MyNewsLA

Stabbing In Skid Row Area Of Downtown Los Angeles Leaves 2 Seriously Wounded, 3rd Hospitalized

Two people have been seriously wounded and a third hospitalized due to a stabbing in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles Monday morning. The incident was reported shortly before 8 a.m. in the 500 block of San Pedro Street just steps from the Midnight Mission human services center. Emergency crews responded to the area and transported three patients to local hospitals, the Los Angeles Fire Department stated. Two of the patients were said to be in “serious condition with stab or cutting wounds,” according to the Fire Department. The third patient was transported in an unknown condition with an unspecified injury. No details regarding the patients’ identities or a possible motive have been released.

KTLA 5

Possible Street Racing Crash Involving Rolls-Royce In Van Nuys Leaves 2 Critically Injured

Two people are critically injured in what's being investigated as a possible street racing crash in Los Angeles' Van Nuys neighborhood, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Authorities said the driver of a Mercedes was likely racing with a Rolls-Royce Driver on Sherman Way Friday night when the crash happened. Police said the two cars were headed west and driving fast, when the Mercedes hit a Honda that was trying to make a left into a parking lot. The Rolls-Royce veered into oncoming lanes, the LAPD said, in an effort to avoid hitting the Honda too. But, they drove into oncoming traffic, and hit a Chevy, before their car came to rest at the curb. The Mercedes driver was arrested, authorities said, but the driver of the Rolls-Royce ran away from the scene and has not been arrested. A suspect description was not immediately released. The two people critically injured are residents of Panorama City. The driver of the Mercedes also had minor injuries. Paramedics took him to the hospital, where officers arrested him on suspicion of reckless driving. Officers are still looking for the Rolls-Royce driver. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the LAPD at 818-644-8114.

FOX 11

Police Arrest Naked Man Living In Crawlspace Of El Sereno Home

Police arrested a naked man in the crawlspace underneath the El Sereno home of a 93-year-old woman Friday morning. Los Angeles police said they spent hours trying to get the man out before having to resort to tear gas, causing a huge commotion in the neighborhood and forcing the people living inside the home to have to find somewhere else to sleep. The unsettling incident took place after she and her family had reported hearing strange noises for weeks. “It was usually late at night, and we just chucked it off to animals being under the house,” said Ricardo Silva, son-in-law of the elderly woman living at home. However, on Thursday night, Silva said the noise got louder. “The noises were kind of like knocking. It was kind of like, as my wife was walking, they were kind of knocking back from under the house so she says, you know something's wrong,” said Silva. Family members at the home called the police immediately, and when officers arrived, they found a naked man in the crawlspace under the home. The man was identified as 27-year-old Issac Betancourt.

NBC 4

Man Gets 110 Years In Prison For Attempted Murder Of Officers In California Police Pursuit

A judge sentenced a man to serve 110 years and six months to life in prison for a 2021 high-speed police pursuit in which he fired a gun at officers while driving recklessly through a Sacramento neighborhood, prosecutors said. In May, a jury found Ismael Herrera-Mondello guilty of five counts of attempted murder on a police officer, seven counts of assault on a police officer with a semi-automatic firearm and felony evasion of police. He also was convicted of vehicle theft, three counts of shooting at an inhabited home and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. On Friday, Sacramento Superior Court Peter Williams sentenced Herrera-Mondello for the police pursuit three years ago, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday in a news release. Herrera-Mondello, 23, remained in custody Monday at the Sacramento County Main Jail , where he’s awaiting transfer to a prison. The July 7, 2021, police chase began shortly before 5 p.m., when officers spotted a stolen vehicle near 65th Street and Fruitridge Road, the Sacramento Police Department has said. The officers tried to pull over the stolen vehicle, but the driver — later identified as Herrera-Mondello — refused to stop. Prosecutors said Herrera-Mondello recklessly sped away through a residential neighborhood, repeatedly firing a semiautomatic gun at officers during the pursuit. One of the bullets struck a nearby home.

Sacramento Bee

Colorado Officer Killed, Second Seriously Injured In Crash With Suspected DUI Driver

The Golden and metro Denver police communities are mourning the death of a Golden officer who was killed while on duty Wednesday evening when he was thrown underneath a crashed vehicle parked on the side of the highway. Officer Evan Dunn was pinned underneath a car and appeared to have died instantly. Golden police said that he had just graduated from the police academy in July. A second officer, Bethany Grusing , sustained a cheekbone injury, and two drivers who were involved in the earlier crash also were injured. They were thrown by the impact and one sustained a skull fracture and brain bleed, the arrest document reported. A Colorado School of Mines mechanical engineering professor was arrested and booked into the Jefferson County jail on suspicion of vehicular homicide and DUI, two counts of vehicular assault and DUI, according to the Colorado State Patrol. Stephen Geer, 43, appeared in Jefferson County Court Thursday morning and was given a $250,000 bond with the condition of pretrial supervision. Prosecutor Alexa Visscher argued that Geer refused a blood and breathalyzer test at the scene, but his wife, who is a public defender, said that he is not a flight risk. “Our daughter asked to please bring Daddy home,” she said. “He’s never harmed anyone.”

The Gazette

Investigation Underway After Decomposed Body Found Off 101 Freeway In Hollywood Hills

A decomposed body was found near the 101 Freeway in the Hollywood Hills, prompting an investigation Monday morning. The California Highway Patrol was alerted to the body by the Los Angeles Fire Department around 1:20 a.m. The body was discovered between two concrete pillars on the right shoulder embankment of the southbound freeway north of Mulholland Drive, according to the CHP. The CHP did not release the gender or age of the person. It's unclear how that individual died or how long the body had been there. The investigation is underway.

ABC 7

How SoCal Fire Crews Are Strategically Combating Unpredictable Wildfires

As unpredictable as wildfires may be, the response to them has become very predictable. When the Mountain Fire broke out this week in Ventura County amid a strong Santa Ana wind event, fire crews and other first responders were already on standby, ready to respond at a moment’s notice. “I guess in some ways you could say it's probably the best organized chaos you can go through,” said Chief Sam DiGiovanna with the Verdugo Fire Academy. “Ventura County Fire Department and the mutual aid resources did an incredible job.” It’s not an accident. DiGiovanna and the Verdugo Fire Academy help train firefighters for major incidents like the Mountain Fire, where even amid fighting the flames and battling dangerous winds, the priority becomes saving lives and property, and it’s done strategically. “You're thinking of protecting lives, stopping this fire, stopping the spread of it, evacuating people. That incident commander has a lot going through his or her mind,” he said. “The incident commander will set up structure protection in certain areas. Sheriff's department or the law enforcement will start doing evacuations, so it is unified command with a lot of entities and additional fire resources coming in.”

NBC 4

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.