Law Enforcement

LAPD surpasses fundraising goal for officers' on-body cameras
An unusual fundraising campaign by the Los Angeles Police Department meant to purchase small video cameras that officers would wear on their uniforms has exceeded its goal of collecting $1 million from private donors. Police Commission President Steve Soboroff, who launched the fundraising push when Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed him to his post in September, said 22 individuals and companies gave slightly more than $1.2 million to the camera project.
Los Angeles Times

Drive-by shooting in West Adams leaves one dead, one injured
An early morning drive-by shooting in the West Adams area of Los Angeles left one person dead and another injured, police said Wednesday. The shooting occurred in the 3700 block of West 36th Street at 1:42 a.m., said Los Angeles Police Officer Gregory Baek. A man and a woman were sitting in a vehicle when someone drove up alongside them in a pickup truck and opened fire, Baek said. The man was hit in the upper torso and later pronounced dead at a hospital. His identity was not immediately available.
Los Angeles Times

Police arrest pickup driver in NoHo hit-and-run
Police have arrested a man suspected being behind the wheel of a pickup truck during a hit-and-run collision Monday afternoon in North Hollywood that left a motorcyclist hospitalized. Mauricio Lopez, 39, of Sun Valley, was arrested Wednesday afternoon, according to Det. William Bustos of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division, which investigated the incident. "Apparently, the two drivers - the driver of the truck and the driver of the motorcycle - they were cutting each other off in traffic and kept going on like that," Bustos said.
Los Angeles Daily News

USC student injured by hit-and-run driver
Police Wednesday morning were investigating a hit-and-run crash that injured a USC student in South Los Angeles. It happened around 10:35 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of 28th and Figueroa streets, Los Angeles police Sgt. A. Cruz said. The 20-year-old man who was hit was taken to California Hospital Medical Center for shoulder pain and some minor scratches, Cruz said. A description of the vehicle that hit him was not available.
City News Service

Man to be arraigned in attack on transgender woman in Hollywood
One of four suspects wanted in connection with an attack on a transgender woman in Hollywood this spring was scheduled to be in court Wednesday. Nicol Shakhnazaryan, 21, was scheduled to be arraigned in Los Angeles County Superior Court on charges of battery with serious bodily injury, and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, among others. Shakhnazaryan was arrested in June in connection with the attack.
Los Angeles Times

LAX shooting: Teacher feared bleeding to death while hiding in closet
Speaking from his hospital bed, Brian Ludmer said this week that he used a sweat shirt as a tourniquet to slow the bleeding after he was shot by a gunman at Los Angeles International Airport. "I didn't know what his intention was," Ludmer said, according to CBS Los Angeles. "I only saw me and him. ... I was in total panic." The 29-year-old Calabasas High School teacher was on his way to Chicago on Friday for a wedding when gunfire broke out in Terminal 3, sending people scurrying for cover.
Los Angeles Times

Sightings

Ballot Measures

Local tax measures fare well in California elections
Voters in California again showed on Tuesday that, while they may be skeptical of taxes at the state and federal levels, they continue to be supportive of raising taxes at the local level if they see a need in their communities. Perhaps the most significant measure, a 3/4 cent sales tax measure in beleaguered Stockton, received 54 percent of the vote in a measure designed to help the city work its way out of bankruptcy. In all, 10 cities asked voters to approve sales tax add-ons of from 1/4 cent to 1 cent. Nine of those measures passed, with only the full 1 cent proposal in Modesto going down, with 49 percent of the vote.
Ventura County Star

City Government

L.A. to chew over legalizing street food vendors
Outside City Hall on Wednesday, dozens gathered in anticipation of the Los Angeles City Council's plan to tackle the issue of street vending, with signs saying, "My father sold watermelons to put food on our table" and "We need your help to be legal." At the council meeting after the rally - and after years of debate - Councilmen Jose Huizar and Curren Price, whose districts have had the most vendors cited by police, brought in an official proposal asking for a report in 90 days on what needs to be done within the Bureau of Street Services and the county Health Department to enact a law.
Los Angeles Daily News