Law Enforcement

3 gang members arrested in Nordstrom Rack robbery
Los Angeles police confirmed Sunday evening the arrests of three suspected gang members in the takeover robbery at the Nordstrom Rack in Westchester last week. The Times first reported two arrests, one on Friday and the second Saturday in Phoenix. Sources familiar with the investigation described the man arrested in Phoenix as a principal suspect but would give no further details. In a press release Sunday, the LAPD said that a total of three suspects had been arrested but did not give additional details.
Los Angeles Times

Twin sisters killed by car while fighting in the street
Two 31-year-old twin sisters were killed early Sunday when a fight between the two spilled out onto the streets of Leimert Park and they were struck by a vehicle, police said. The fight and fatal crash occurred around 3 a.m. in the 4200 block of Leimert Boulevard, said Officer Norma Eisenman of the Los Angeles Police Department. "The altercation they were having ended up out on the street somehow," Eisenman said. "They were both struck by a vehicle." Eisenman said both women were pronounced dead at the scene.
City News Service

Man Sought in UCLA Student's Attempted Murder
Police are searching for the man suspected of trying to strangle a UCLA student as she was traveling home from campus, and on Friday announced investigators are looking into whether the same man was responsible for an on-campus attack earlier this week. The 21-year-old student was attacked about 7 p.m. on Jan. 2 after she exited a bus at Melrose and Normandie avenues. She was walking eastbound on Melrose when she made a right-hand turn on Mariposa Avenue. That's when, LAPD said, a man grabbed her around the neck from behind.
NBC4

Man killed by police after driving toward officers identified
A man who was killed by police in Santa Ana after he reportedly drove his car toward officers was identified as Binh Van Nguyen. It was not clear why the 39-year-old responded the way he did, but drug paraphernalia was found inside his car, said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. The shooting happened at 12:45 a.m. when two officers patrolling the 200 block of North Maxine Street noticed a man alone in the back seat of a white car, Bertagna said.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD searching for suspect in apartment robbery
Police are searching for an armed suspect in his 20s who entered a woman's Woodland Hills apartment and stole $6,000 in cash. At 12:20 a.m. Saturday, a man entered the apartment in the 6100 block of Glade Avenue armed with a handgun, said Sgt. Jeff Beck with the Los Angeles Police Department. The man ordered a female resident to the floor and then discovered $6,000 in an unsecured safe, he said. The suspect fled in an unknown direction with the money. The female resident was not injured, Beck said.
Los Angeles Times

Police identify shooter in Hollywood nightclub killing
Los Angeles police say they believe they have identified the man suspected of shooting into a crowd outside a popular Hollywood nightclub, fatally striking one man and injuring two others. Sgt. Mark Ro, of the LAPD's Hollywood Station, said investigators have a "good idea" who the suspect is but have yet to make an arrest. Officers were called about 2 a.m. Sunday to the Empire Club on Cahuenga Boulevard, north of Hollywood Boulevard, authorities said. A critically injured man at the scene was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Los Angeles Times

Chef stabbed outside Church & State Bistro in downtown LA
The search is on for three suspects who stabbed a chef near a restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. The incident happened around 1 a.m. Sunday outside Church & State Bistro, located in the 1800 block of Industrial Street. According to police, the chef, identified as a man in his 20s, was taking out the trash when he was stabbed in the abdomen.
ABC7

Gun Control

Lines harden in debate over guns
Opposing forces in the debate over the nation's gun laws staked out starkly different positions Sunday, with the head of the largest gun rights group declaring confidence that a ban on assault weapons would not win passage from lawmakers, while advocates of tightening restrictions on guns said such measures can be approved.
Washington Post

L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa offers gun control ideas to Vice President Joe Biden
L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joined Friday in the call for a ban on assault weapons as well as the need to appoint a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as part of more than a dozen recommendations to deal with gun violence. In a letter to Vice President Joe Biden, Villaraigosa cited programs that have worked in Los Angeles to reduce crime, including an increase in the number of police officers, the gun buyback programs and the gang reduction efforts as examples of what can be done.
Los Angeles Daily News

Immigration

Obama will seek citizenship path in one fast push
President Obama plans to push Congress to move quickly in the coming months on an ambitious overhaul of the immigration system that would include a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, senior administration officials and lawmakers said last week.
New York Times

City Elections 2013

Greuel, Garcetti hope for support from Clinton or Obama
Trying to set yourself apart from the pack in the Los Angeles mayor's race, you couldn't ask for a much more potent ally than former President Clinton. Unless your backing came from the current occupant of the Oval Office, President Obama. The two leading contenders for mayor - City Controller Wendy Greuel and City Councilman Eric Garcetti - have each told confidants they hope one of those marquee names will be in their corner.
Los Angeles Times