Law Enforcement

Driver arrested after fatal Boyle Heights crash
A woman has been arrested on suspicion of felony manslaughter after the car she was driving crashed into a curb in Boyle Heights, ran off the road and hit a power pole, leaving one of her two passengers dead. The crash occurred about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday on Washington Boulevard east of Soto Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. "She lost control of the vehicle, causing it to travel in a northeast direction and collided with a curb, then ran off the roadway and collided with a power pole," said LAPD Officer Sally Madera.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD asks public to be on lookout for missing man, 70
The Los Angeles Police Department is asking for the public's help in locating a missing 70-year-old man. The family of Cary Campbell said he has been missing since the afternoon of December 14, 2013. Campbell was last seen, around 12 p.m., in the 9300 block of Firth Avenue in Los Angeles. His family said he's gone missing before but never for this long a period of time. They also said they believe he is in need of medical care for a medical condition.
CBS LA

LAPD warns public about recent string of van thefts in Wilshire area
The Los Angeles Police Department Wednesday warned the public about a recent string of van thefts in the Wilshire Area. Several vans containing painting, plumbing and gardening tools have been stolen over the past four weeks. So far, only one of the vehicles has been recovered, but its contents were missing, according to the LAPD. The crimes have taken place south of Pico Boulevard and north of Interstate 10 between Arlington Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard.
CBS LA

Man shot, killed by unknown assailant in Van Nuys
A 22-year-old Van Nuys man was shot and killed Wednesday morning as he walked down the street a few blocks from his home, police said. Ramiro Melendez-Lobos was southbound on Cedros Avenue near Delano Street at about 6:45 a.m. when an unknown man approached him and fired a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol several times, hitting Lobos in the arm and torso.
Los Angeles Daily News

1 injured in shooting in Encino area
A shooting in the Encino area has left at least one person injured. LAPD Officer Gregory Baek says the shooting was reported at 5:52 p.m. in the 4900 block of Rupert Avenue. One person has been treated by paramedics at the scene and placed in an ambulance in unknown condition. ABC7 reports the victim was shot multiple times.
City News Service

Highland Park 7-Eleven homicide suspect reportedly a parolee
A suspect in the fatal shooting of a 7-Eleven clerk in Highland Park might be a parolee released through the state's 2011 initiative to reduce California's prison population, it was reported Wednesday. Rasheem Childs, 19, is named in a felony complaint as a suspect in the killing of Gonzalo Garcia, 31, who was gunned down on the night of Dec. 22 during a robbery of the business at 5138 N. Figueroa St., CBS2 reported.
City News Service

Venice boardwalk crash suspect ordered to stand trial for murder
The man accused of using his car to kill an Italian honeymooner and injure 17 people on the Venice Boardwalk in August will stand trial for murder and other charges, a judge ruled Wednesday. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Antonio Barreto Jr. found there was sufficient evidence for Nathan Louis Campbell, a 38-year-old Colorado native, to stand trial on one count of murder with a deadly and dangerous weapon for the death of Alice Gruppioni, 32, who was honeymooning with her husband at the time she was fatally struck.
Los Angeles Times

Scramble to fill leadership void in Sheriff's Department, as inspector general moves in
With Sheriff Lee Baca abruptly retiring at the end of January, and a duly elected successor not taking over until December, county leaders have begun moving to fill the void, even as a newly appointed official is setting up his office to oversee the department. The Commission on Jail Violence had urged the Board of Supervisors to create Inspector General Max Huntsman's position to strengthen oversight of the Sheriff's Department. His first day was Jan. 2.
Los Angeles Daily News

Prisons

Prison secretary seeks delay in inmate court order
California will have no choice but to move 4,000 more inmates to private prisons in other states if federal judges refuse to postpone a court-ordered population cap, state Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard said Wednesday. The state faces an April 18 deadline to reduce overcrowding in its 33 adult prisons. The judges have found reducing overcrowding to be the key step in improving inmate medical and mental health care, but Gov. Jerry Brown is seeking a three-year delay.
Associated Press

Early parole, money for jails in Brown's proposed budget
Conceding that California won't meet a federal court deadline to reduce prison overcrowding, Gov. Jerry Brown is moving ahead with plans to expand parole programs to include the frail, mentally impaired and elderly, while seeking to fund another wave of jail expansion, according to his proposed budget. Brown also wants to immediately change state policy to allow some jailed felons to further shorten their sentences.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

L.A. is facing a grim tomorrow, panel says
Los Angeles is a city facing economic decline, weighed down by poverty, strangled by traffic and suffering from a crisis of leadership, according to a report released Wednesday by a 13-member panel of influential civic leaders. The Los Angeles 2020 Commission offered a harsh assessment of government decision-making, warning that the nation's second-largest city is heading to a future where it can no longer afford to provide public services.
Los Angeles Times

L.A. city controller issuing subpoenas as standoff over DWP heats up
More than $40 million spent over the last decade to improve labor relations at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has, instead, sparked an increasingly tense standoff between a union boss and the city's most powerful elected officials. City Controller Ron Galperin announced Wednesday afternoon that he was issuing subpoenas to compel Brian D'Arcy, leader of the DWP's largest employee union, to show where the millions went.
Los Angeles Times

Garcetti headed to D.C.
Mayor Eric Garcetti is heading to Washington, D.C., this week to participate in President Obama's announcement that Los Angeles has been selected as a Promise Zone city. Garcetti will be at a White House ceremony on Thursday when the announcement is made. Los Angeles will be one of five cities receiving the designation, which is expected to bring in tens of millions of federal dollars for projects in East Hollywood, Pico-Union/Westlake, Thai Town, Little Armenia and Koreatown.
Los Angeles Daily News