Law Enforcement

Man gets year in jail for assaulting LAPD officer in May Day protest
A 23-year-old man who hit a female LAPD officer on the back of the head with a snare drum during a May Day protest pleaded no contest Monday to a felony battery charge and was immediately sentenced to a year in jail. As part of the plea agreement, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael D. Abzug also sentenced Brian German Mendoza to five years' probation. The judge suspended a three-year prison term and gave Mendoza credit for 122 days in jail since his arrest for the May 1 attack on Officer Mandee Duyanen at Fourth and Hill streets in downtown Los Angeles.
City News Service

LAPD tries to track serial rapist tied to 35 attacks on women
The Los Angeles Police Department is taking a novel approach in trying to capture the Teardrop Rapist, who detectives believe is responsible for attacking 35 women since 1996. Robbery Homicide Division Capt. Bill Hayes said the rapist has struck from Hollywood to South L.A.'s Manchester Boulevard, but a geographic analysis has determined that he may live near the Coliseum.
Los Angeles Times

Man shot in Hollywood Hills home-invasion robbery
A homeowner was shot during a Monday morning home-invasion robbery in the Hollywood Hills and authorities were searching for three armed assailants who fled the house with cash and jewelry, police said. Three robbers burst into the home in the 3300 block of Charleston Way about 9 a.m. demanding money, said Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Richard French. Two of the three men were armed, he said, and during the robbery a shooting occurred before the three assailants left with the cash and jewels.
Los Angeles Times

Police seek person who fatally shot man in Mid-City
Los Angeles police were searching Monday for the person who fatally shot a 50-year-old man on a Mid-City street Sunday night. Vada Pinson Faniel was shot in the 5400 block of Apple Street shortly after 10:50 p.m. and died an hour later at a hospital, said Ed Winter, assistant chief of the coroner's department. Faniel was found lying in the street, bleeding heavily, police said, adding that they do not have a description of the suspect at this time.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD Gang Unit: Pedestrian on Figueroa threatened with shotgun
LAPD Gang Unit detectives are investigating an incident in which members of a local gang allegedly pointed a shotgun at a pedestrian. According to Gang Unit supervisor Richard Ortiz, a 42-year-old man was walking near Avenue 54 and Figueroa Street on Friday, June 29, at around 1:30 a.m. when we was approached by two men in a vehicle.

Eagle Rock Patch

Police looking for thief after Granada Hills chase
Los Angeles police, including a helicopter and dogs, are searching for a man believed to have stolen items from a Granada Hills hardware store before fleeing in a stolen van. Sgt. James Onthank at the Devonshire station said someone at the Orchard Supply Hardware on Chatsworth Street reported a robbery about 7:45 a.m. and pointed police toward a fleeing van with two suspects inside.
Los Angeles Daily News

Beware of fireworks danger amid Fourth of July fun
Every year, as they did again last week, police and fire chiefs and politicians hold press conferences and put out bulletins to warn of the dangers of fireworks in the hands of amateurs. But every year, people still play with fireworks, though they're illegal in most of Los Angeles County. Every year, people start fires with them. And every year, someone gets hurt.
Los Angeles Daily News

Municipal Budgets

Mammoth Lakes files for bankruptcy over $43 million judgment
The High Sierra town of Mammoth Lakes said Monday that it filed for bankruptcy because it cannot afford to pay a $43 million breach-of-contract judgment brought against it by a developer. In a prepared statement, Mammoth Lakes officials said “bankruptcy, unfortunately, is the only option left” for the town, whose largest creditor, Mammoth Lakes Land Acquisition, had won a state court order requiring full payment by June 30, 2012.
Associated Press

State Budget

California's budget plan balanced with risky assumptions
Gov. Jerry Brown has bet a portion of California's financial health on the expectation that a hyperpartisan Congress will change course on a hotly debated tax policy this year. The budget Brown signed last week assumes that over the next four years the state will reap almost $2.3 billion from the federal estate tax, a levy on wealth inheritance. California hasn't collected any revenue from the tax since 2004, and if Congress sticks with current policy it won't in the coming years, either.
Los Angeles Times

Pensions

California pension reform deal elusive as lawmakers near recess
State lawmakers are racing to try to reach an agreement on pension reform before they leave on a monthlong summer break Friday, but one leader of the effort said Monday that sticking points remain and he is not sure a full plan will be ready for adoption this week. "I don't know if we're going to do it this month," said Assemblyman Warren Furutani (D-Gardena), co-chairman of the legislative panel that is considering Gov. Jerry Brown's 12-point pension reform plan.
Los Angeles Times