Kentucky Officer Shot In Head And Arm During Robbery Pursuit

A Kentucky officer was shot in the head and arm by a robbery suspect during a pursuit Monday. According to local news station WBKO, police were pursuing two separate vehicles that had been involved in a robbery at a local Walmart. Hopkinsville Police Officer Jeremy Davidson attempted to stop one of the two vehicles when one of the suspects began shooting. Hopkinsville Police Chief Clayton Sumner said Davidson is in good condition at a hospital in Nashville. One of the suspects was later captured in Cunningham, Tennessee. 
PoliceOne

Ohio Deputy Who Was Set On Fire Out Of The Hospital

The Portage County sheriff's deputy who was set on fire Thursday while arresting a fugitive is out of the hospital after suffering burns on about 20 percent of his body. Portage County Sheriff David Doak said Monday evening that Sgt. Jim Acklin was released from Akron Children's Hospital burn unit on Monday afternoon. When he visited Acklin in the hospital on Sunday, Doak said the deputy was "in good spirits and making some progress." "I was over yesterday afternoon and he was in real good spirits," Doak said Monday morning. The sheriff posted on his office's Facebook page Sunday, after he visited Acklin in the hospital. Acklin was able to walk around a little on Sunday and was trying to wean himself off of painkillers he was given. Acklin was hospitalized with burns on about 20 percent of his body, mostly on his hands and arms, Doak said last week.
Record-Courier

South LA Man Shot And Killed In Possible Gang Initiation

A hard-working LAUSD worker was found dead in his car. His family says he was killed by a man trying to earn his way into a gang. “My son was a hardworking man. A productive member of society,” said Gregory Jones, father of 28-year-old Donte, who was shot and killed Friday night. Donte's sister is now begging for the South LA community to help catch a killer. “To come home after a long day of work and be murdered. It's not OK. We have to find justice for my brother,” said Tionna Welow, the victim's sister. Donte's family tells CBSLA he was a janitor with LAUSD and had no gang ties but say they've heard on the streets Donte's murder was part of a gang initiation. “We've got to stop all this. They've been saying gang initiation since I was a baby, before I was born. They steady killing us to get into a gang and that's just nonsense,” said Takisha Weeks, another sister of the victim.
CBS 2

Shooting Victims At Gated Community Likely Knew Their Killer Or Killers, LAPD Says

Police on Tuesday publicly identified three men who were shot to death recently in the Renaissance gated community on the border of Porter Ranch and Chatsworth. Gary Davidson, 39, a renter in the house where the shooting erupted; Benny Lopez, 46, of Anaheim; and Jesus Perez, 45, of Perris, all died of gunshot wounds on Monday afternoon. The men likely knew their killer or killers, according to LAPD Capt. Billy Hayes of the Robbery-Homicide Division. “We have determined this is not a random act,” Hayes said. A woman in an upstairs bedroom said she heard what sounded like gunfire around 3:45 p.m. Monday, Hayes told reporters. The woman said she knew Davidson, but not the other victims. After failed attempts to communicate with Davidson, the woman called police, Hayes said. LAPD officers arrived at the affluent gated community at 3:52 p.m. and the victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
Los Angeles Times

Death Investigation Underway In Downtown Los Angeles

A death investigation is underway in downtown Los Angeles. At about 1:44 p.m. Tuesday, LAPD received reports of a "person down" in the 400 block of W. 7th Street. Arriving officers discovered the body of an adult man, according to officials. The deceased person has not been identified. No further details were immediately known.
FOX 11

Police Release Surveillance Video Of Suspected DUI Hit-and-Run Collision In South-Central L.A.

Police released new surveillance video Tuesday of a suspected DUI hit-and-run collisionthat severely injured one person and damaged six parked cars in South-Central Los Angeles Sunday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The video shows a white Honda Accord crashing into six parked vehicles and forcefully ejecting one of its passengers several feet across the street. The collision occurred at around 2:40 a.m. on Feb. 15 in the area of 33rd Street and Central Avenue. Wilfredo Vaquiz Escobar, 30, of Los Angeles, was arrested and booked for felony DUI causing injuries, after an investigation revealed that Escobar was driving his vehicle at an "unsafe speed" southbound on Central Avenue. When he approached 33rd Street, Escobar lost control of his vehicle and spun out, LAPD said. The powerful force of the collision caused one of his six passengers to be ejected from the vehicle, police said.
KTLA 5

Possible Third Car Sought In Koreatown Crash That Killed Bicyclist

A bicyclist died after being struck by a car in Koreatown early Wednesday, and even though two drivers stopped at the scene, police could be looking for a third car in connection with the fatal crash. The crash happened in the 600 block of Catalina Street at about 3:30 a.m. A man riding his bicycle was struck by a car and thrown several feet away. The bicyclist was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not been released. Two drivers have stopped at the scene of the crash, but police say it's not clear if either hit the bicyclist initially, or after he was already down. Police will scour any security video footage in the area for a possible third car involved in the crash.
CBS 2

Alleged DUI Crash: Parked Cars Smashed In LA, Passenger Thrown 80 Feet

A chaotic early-morning crash was captured on video as a speeding car careened into multiple parked vehicles just south of downtown LA and sent a passenger flying about 80 feet down the street. Police later arrested the 30-year-old driver, Wilfredo Vaquiz Escobar, of Los Angeles, saying he was intoxicated at the time of the early morning crash. The collision was reported around 2:40 a.m. in the area of Central Avenue and 33rd Street. Police say a Honda Accord driven by Escobar with six passengers inside was traveling 80-100 mph when he lost control, and spun out. Video shows a vehicle colliding with multiple parked cars and spinning out on the street, damaging or destroying at least five parked cars.
ABC 7

LAPD Warns Street Vendors As Armed Attacks Increase

The Los Angeles Police issued a warning to street food vendors as an increase in assaults has been reported in the Boyle Heights area. Officials distributed fliers written in Spanish and English to inform vendors to take care of themselves because some of their colleagues have been the target of armed attacks. "We have to worry about those who only come to get the fruit," said Alicia Cárdenas, a street vendor of fruit. According to police, gang assaults have been reported in Boyle Heights in recent months. "We are trying to alert and inform taco vendors to take precautions to prevent this from happening to them," said Bill Blount, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Blount added that thieves know that some of these businesses handle a lot of cash and can be easy targets.
NBC 4

L.A. County Board Votes To Eliminate Pepper Spray In Juvenile Halls, Camps

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to eliminate the use of pepper spray in juvenile halls and camps, a change expected to be phased in over at least the next 10 months. Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Mark Ridley-Thomas recommended banning the use of oleoresin capsicum spray, commonly known as pepper spray, in favor of more humane behavior management. “There are alternatives, they are not easy, any more than disciplining your child without hitting them is easy,” Kuehl said. “If we want to teach nonviolence to young people, we have to start with ourselves.” The board also called for increasing staffing, training and additional oversight of the Probation Department.
MyNewsLA.com

Man Convicted 10 Times For Groping On Metro Buses And Trains Is Banned From Public Transport, Must Register As Sex Offender

A Los Angeles man who has been convicted 10 times for groping women and girls on Metro buses and other public transportation lines was ordered Tuesday to stay away from all public transportation systems, undergo a one-year residential mental-health counseling program and register as a sex offender for life. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victoria B. Wilson also ordered Ager Linder to serve 54 months on probation, along with a 364-day jail term that the 27-year-old man has already completed. Linder pleaded no contest in December to three counts of sexual battery, two counts of child molestation and one count of battery on a public-transportation passenger for groping five women and three girls, ranging in age from 15 to 27, while riding Metro buses through the Mid-City area between May and August, according to the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. He would often pretend to be asleep and then grab a victim, according to prosecutors.
Los Angeles Daily News

3 Arrested On Suspicion Of Selling Drugs After Police Find Large Cache Of Weapons, Drugs At 2 L.A. Homes

Two men and one woman were arrested after police found firearms, ammunition and drugs at two homes as part of a Santa Monica narcotics sale investigation, the Santa Monica Police Department said Tuesday. Police officers, along with a SWAT team, served search warrants Friday at two homes, one in Lennox and another in Hawthorne, finding 21 handguns, 8 long guns or rifles, over 4000 rounds of ammunition, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and over $200,000 in cash, according to Santa Monica Police. Three suspects were arrested for their “involvement in narcotics distribution and criminal activity,” police said. Pedro Cesar Isais, 28, of Los Angeles and Valarie Marie Cruz, 30, of Inglewood were booked for the possession of heroin and methamphetamine for the purpose of sales, possession of narcotics with a loaded firearm and child endangerment, according to police. Alejandro Cruz, 25, of Los Angeles was booked for the possession of heroin for the purpose of sales, police said.
KTLA 5

Local Government News

L.A. Ethics Commission backs new restrictions on developer donations

Faced with persistent complaints about a “pay-to-play” culture at Los Angeles City Hall, the City Ethics Commission backed new restrictions Tuesday on political donations from real estate developers seeking city approval for their building plans. Commission members also recommended that the city allow only individuals to donate to candidates and officeholders. The change would prohibit donations to candidates from city employee unions, which are a major force in municipal elections. The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents police officers, argued such a move would trample on its members' free speech rights. “Stripping away the voices of workers is the wrong approach,” the league's board said in a statement.
Los Angeles Times

Illegal L.A. Pot Shops May Have Water, Power Shut Off

With hundreds illegal marijuana shops continuing to operate in Los Angeles, a City Council committee Friday will consider a new tactic aimed at cracking down on the businesses by having their water and power utility lines cut off. The idea of shutting off utilities at illegal shops was proposed last year by Councilwomen Nury Martinez and Monica Rodriguez in a motion directing city staff report on the viability of implementing an ordinance that allows the city to disconnect or shut off utility service to unlicensed pot businesses.
MyNewsLA.com