Law Enforcement

Manson disciple's tapes being analyzed by LAPD
Los Angeles police have obtained the decades-old taped conversations between a Manson family disciple and his attorney, officials confirmed Thursday. Detective David Holmes said the department has had the tapes for a couple of weeks and Robbery-Homicide Division and the Los Angeles County district attorney's office are analyzing them. A federal judge in Texas ruled in March that Charles "Tex" Watson waived his right to attorney-client privilege when he allowed his lawyer to sell the eight cassette tapes to an author nearly 40 years ago for a book on his life.
Associated Press

LAPD officer's widow speaks at police memorial ceremony in Ventura
When Lisa Simmons got a call from a Los Angeles police officer in 2008 saying her husband had been shot during a SWAT operation in Winnetka, she thought he was still at home, praying. She didn't think her Randy Simmons was dead until she was at a Northridge hospital with her sisters and his best friend. "He looked at me and said, 'Lisa, he's gone. 'We lost him,' " said Simmons, fighting back tears. "To this day, those words haunt me."
Ventura County Star

LAPD will not pursue complaints about noise from low-flying police choppers
Not a few Angelenos have been jolted awake by the sound of police helicopters circling their neighborhood. There is a number you can call to inquire about what is happening, but it won't do much good to file a complaint: LAPD policy dictates that the department shall not pursue complaints about noise from low-flying helicopters. The latest buzz over chopper noise in L.A. started with Carmegeddon One. News helicopters floated for hours over the freeway shutdown, ticking off residents in the Sepulveda Pass area.
Southern California Public Radio

Woman in Kansas accused of passing info to gangs in L.A. jails
Authorities have arrested a purported "secretary" for the Mexican Mafia who allegedly helped funnel information through Los Angeles County jails -- from her home in Kansas. Cecilia Virgen-DeLeon, 31, was taken into custody about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday in Salina, a town of about 50,000 in the heart of the state, L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy Francis Hardiman said in a phone interview outside of nearby Abilene.
Los Angeles Times

Woodland Hills bank robbers get away, 101 ramp reopened
A Ventura Boulevard bank robbery led to a short chase and a police search for two suspects in a Woodland Hills neighborhood Thursday morning, but the culprits eluded authorities. The robbery occurred late this morning at a Citibank in the 19000 block of Ventura Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Police set up a perimeter near Hatteras Street and Vanalden Avenue.
City News Service

Fugitive in LA attempted-murder case held in Colo.
A man who has been wanted in Los Angeles on attempted-murder charges for 13 years has been taken into custody in Colorado after being arrested for urinating in public. Los Angeles police Sgt. Albert Gonzalez says Miguel Sanchez was arrested Wednesday by Colorado Springs police. Police discovered he had a warrant related to an attempted murder in 2000. In that incident, Sanchez allegedly argued with another person, stabbed the person multiple times, then stabbed a second person, and ran away.
Associated Press

Global Terrorism

London attack suspect recorded statement after killing, video shows
Moments after a man was hacked to death on a street in London on Wednesday, one of two suspects in the attack, carrying a meat cleaver and a knife in his blood-drenched hands, approached a witness who was recording the scene on video and asked to make a statement. ITV News obtained the graphic, distressing video, in which the suspect described the killing of a man wearing a British military charity T-shirt as retaliation for the actions of British troops in Muslim countries.
New York Times

Transit

Metro board approves Crenshaw Line's Leimert Park Village station
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Thursday approved $80 million for an underground train station in Leimert Park Village along the Crenshaw Line, ending two years of uncertainty over the station's future. The motion, sponsored by L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, ensures contractors will have funding for the station in historic Leimert Park, a hub of African American business and culture in South Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

L.A. mayor: Villaraigosa, Garcetti promise 'seamless transition'
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa began the formal transition of power to his successor Thursday, hosting Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti for breakfast at Getty House, where he told reporters that the city councilman had his "full support." Garcetti, who defeated City Controller Wendy Greuel on Tuesday, will not take office until July 1. But he and his team have already begun to prepare the policy initiatives that he hopes will allow him to "hit the ground running on Day One," as he said during the news conference that followed.
Los Angeles Times

L.A.'s $7.7 billion budget approved
With no dissent and few changes, the Los Angeles City Council on Thursday adopted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's final budget for the city, a $7.7 billion spending plan that seeks to restore some services cut over the past few years. In a session lasting less than three hours, the council voted 12-0 to support most of Villaraigosa's proposals, but did delay for six months his plan to consolidate the city Planning and Building and Safety departments for further study.
Los Angeles Daily News