Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Encino and 16 other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 17 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Thirteen neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Encino was the most unusual, recording four reports compared with a weekly average of 0.8 over the last three months.
Los Angeles Times

Man shoots woman in Van Nuys, kills himself during police freeway chase
A man who shot a woman in Van Nuys led law enforcement personnel on a pursuit through the San Fernando Valley and the Ventura County cities of Camarillo, Oxnard and Ventura before returning to Van Nuys, where he ended his own life, police said Monday. The initial shooting occurred around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, when the suspect, whose name was not immediately released, shot and critically wounded a woman in the 14600 block of Vose Street, said Captain Ivan Minsal of the LAPD's Van Nuys Station.
City News Service

LAPD: 'The husband shot the victim' in Granada Hills
A man was arrested Monday for allegedly shooting his wife at a Granada Hills home, leaving the woman hospitalized in unknown condition. The shooting was reported at 9:30 a.m. at a home in the 17200 block of Mayerling Street, police said. "The husband shot the victim," Los Angeles police Officer Rosario Herrera said. It was unclear what led to the shooting. The man was taken into custody at the scene shortly after officers arrived, while the woman was taken to a hospital.
City News Service

Two arrested after hours-long standoff in Reseda
Authorities arrested two suspects in Reseda after shots were fired at a patrol car on Monday afternoon. Police were pursuing two armed robbery suspects when the chase ended and shots were fired at about 4:35 p.m., according to an official at the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Station. At least 10 bullet holes could be seen in the windshield of a patrol car, aerial video showed. One suspect was in custody, the LAPD official said, while the search continued for the other man.
NBC4

Woodland Hills mall employee kidnapped, raped
A 19-year-old woman was abducted at knifepoint as she left a Woodland Hills mall, then robbed, raped and forced to drive her captor around the county for three hours before he released her, police said Monday. The kidnapping occurred about 5:30 p.m. on July 4 just outside of the Westfield Topanga Plaza mall where the victim worked, said Los Angeles police Lt. Andy Neiman.
NBC4

Female janitor beaten at Dockweiler Beach, LAPD says
A female janitor cleaning a bathroom at Dockweiler State Beach was punched and kicked in the face by several suspects, police said Monday evening. The attack occurred around 4:30 p.m. when she was punched in the face and fell to the ground, police said. Another man and at least one woman held the victim down while she was struck in the face again by the first assailant, according to initial reports received by the LAPD.
Los Angeles Times

Man who allegedly beat, swung bulldog puppy 'like yo-yo' arrested
A Highland Park man was arrested on suspicion of felony animal cruelty after police said he kicked a 3-month-old French bulldog puppy and swung it in the air "like a yo-yo," Los Angeles police officials said Monday. Joseph Fragoso, 28, was arrested Sunday night in the 1500 block of Avenue 54 near York Boulevard after patrol officers with the LAPD's Northeast Area Station received a call from a witness that a man carrying a puppy suddenly threw it to the sidewalk and kicked it for no apparent reason.
Los Angeles Times

Prisons

Prison realignment: Counties, local law enforcement unlikely to see any major fix
California's Realignment law was the Brown Administration's solution to reduce overcrowding in state prisons. The law (AB109) sends lower-level felons to serve sentences in county jails. But the state hasn't reduced the prison population enough to satisfy a federal court, and 9,600 more inmates must be released by year's end. That means dozens of this year's bills seeking to mitigate the effects of realignment on public safety are dead in the water.
Southern California Public Radio

California prison officials say 30,000 inmates refuse meals
California officials Monday said 30,000 inmates refused meals at the start of what could be the largest prison protest in state history. Inmates in two-thirds of the state's 33 prisons, and at all four out-of-state private prisons, refused both breakfast and lunch on Monday, said corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton. In addition, 2,300 prisoners failed to go to work or attend their prison classes, either refusing or in some cases saying they were sick.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. County supervisor raises alarm about release of serial rapist
Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich expressed alarm Monday at a judge's recent decision to clear the way for the release of a convicted sex offender who has been linked to about 40 rapes throughout the state. Antonovich said the release of Christopher Evans Hubbart would create a serious public safety risk and has asked county prosecutors to brief the Board of Supervisors at the panel's regular weekly meeting Tuesday. "A predator of this nature deserves life without parole," Antonovich said in a statement released late Monday.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti: Department heads could lose jobs
Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered all department heads to reapply for their jobs on Monday and told reporters he expects some managers will be asked to resign. Sticking to a campaign promise, Garcetti said the city's 37 department heads -- most of whom make more than $200,000 a year -- will be evaluated by his office. All must submit a memo outlining their goals by Friday. He told reporters it's "unlikely that 100 percent of folks will return" but also added he isn't "prejudging anyone." Garcetti then met for nearly an hour with department heads in his City Hall office, an event that was closed to the press.
Los Angeles Daily News