Suspect In Hit-and-Run Death Of Tennessee Officer In Custody

The suspect in the hit-and-run death of a Tennessee officer was taken into custody Monday morning, police said. Janet Elaine Hinds, 54, turned herself in hours after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation put her on its Top Ten Most Wanted list, the Chattanooga Police Department announced on Twitter. The agency said Hinds was wanted for vehicular homicide in the death of Nicholas Galinger. The 38-year-old officer was hit Saturday night while he was inspecting a manhole cover that had water flowing from it due to heavy rain. News outlets report a police affidavit said Hinds was speeding, crossed a double-yellow line and hit a sign warning of an exposed manhole cover before hitting Galinger. She then drove away from the scene, police said. Court records show she faces several other charges including reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and violation of a traffic control device.
Associated Press

Virginia Police Mourn Unexpected Death Of K-9

A Virginia police department is mourning the unexpected death of one of their K-9s. Fairfax County Police Department K-9, Doby, was assisting in an armed robbery call when he collapsed and stopped breathing, local news station FOX 5 DC reports. After Doby's handler administered CPR, the K-9 was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. A necropsy will be conducted to determine Doby's cause of death. Doby was a member of the department since March 2018 and actively working cases since August.
PoliceOne

Door Dash Bicyclist Killed In South LA Hit-and-Run

Police are searching for the hit-and-run driver who killed a bicyclist on a food run for Door Dash in South Los Angeles. The bicyclist, 32-year-old Joseph Pradoni, was delivering food when he was struck and killed around 9 p.m. Saturday on Manchester Avenue near Gramercy Place. Several people heard the crash but no one reported seeing it. The driver did not stop and police do not have a description of the vehicle.
ABC 7

Teenager Shot In North Hollywood

A teenager was wounded Monday evening in a shooting in North Hollywood and hospitalized in serious but stable condition, police said. The gunfire was reported about 5:40 p.m. in the area of Runnymede Street and Radford Avenue, according to Officer Mike Lopez of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section. The victim was struck several times and taken to a hospital, where he was in serious but stable condition, Lopez said. Investigators said the shooter is a male who was possibly driving a white Toyota four-door car. It was not immediately known if the shooting was gang-related.
FOX 11

Man Dressed As LADWP Worker Among Suspects In West Hills Home Invasion

Authorities say three men in ski masks – one of whom was wearing a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power vest — forced their way into a West Hills home Monday morning. The home invasion occurred at around 8 a.m. in the 7800 block of Bobbyboyar Avenue, according to L.A. police. Once they gained entry into the residence, police say the suspects tied up the homeowner, pistol-whipped him, and ransacked the home. They fled in a 2017 or 2018 Ford F-350 pickup truck with no plates, police said.
CBS 2

Man Charged With Killing 89-Year-Old Who He Knocked Over During Downtown L.A. Robbery Pleads Not Guilty

A man who was charged with killing an 89-year-old man who he knocked over during a robbery in downtown Los Angeles late last year pleaded not guilty to murder, officials announced Monday. Ricardo Macias, 24, was charged in connection with the Dec. 20 incident. The robbery was reported at a pharmacy in the 200 block of West 7th Street, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. Macias allegedly stole items from the store, assaulted a security guard who confronted him in the store and crashed into customer Jack Hernandez as he was trying to get away. Hernandez fell and hit his head as a result, and eventually died from his injuries.
KTLA 5

Man Pleads Not Guilty To Stabbing Homeless Man To Death

A Los Angeles resident pleaded not guilty Monday to the stabbing murder of a homeless man who had exchanged words with the defendant's girlfriend in Hollywood. Spencer Jay Doland, 35, could face up to 26 years to life in prison if convicted of the slaying of 48-year-old Daryl Hanson, according to the District Attorney's Office. He was ordered to return to court on April 5, when a date is expected to be set for a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial. Hanson had a verbal exchange with Doland's girlfriend as she sat in the defendant's car outside a liquor store in the early morning hours of Oct. 11, according to prosecutors, who did not disclose the nature of the conversation.
MyNewsLA.com

L.A. Man, A Former NASA Contractor, Sentenced To Nearly 5 Years For Hacking Women's Accounts And Threatening To Share Nude Photos

A Los Angeles man who formerly worked as a NASA contractor was sentenced on Monday to four years and nine months in federal prison for hacking into women's computers and online accounts, then blackmailing them with information and nude photos, prosecutors said. Richard Gregory Bauer, 28, knew the women he targeted but threatened and harassed them anonymously, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a news release. He pleaded guilty last October to federal charges of stalking, computer hacking and aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, who sentenced Bauer, called the crimes “disgusting and harmful.” Bauer admitted he spent years hacking into the email, social media accounts and computers of the victims who were his family members, friends, acquaintances from high school and college, co-workers and friends of friends, officials said.
KTLA 5

Feds Warn Of Dangers Of Teen Fentanyl Smuggling

“Mom … Ummmm, I'm in trouble.” The skinny teenager's body is nearly doubled over with stress, his mother's voice rising with increasing anxiety from the speaker of his cell phone laid out in front of him in a federal interrogation room. Criminal drug organizations are turning San Diego teenagers into mules, using them to smuggle hard narcotics, even deadly fentanyl, across the border in a trend that is alarming law enforcement authorities. “Hold on ... What did you do?” his mother squawks into the phone. “So, I went to Mexico and I brought back drugs because I was gonna get paid for it.” The phone call ends with the mother sobbing “How could this happen? How could this happen?” In recent months, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations arrested four juveniles for smuggling hard narcotics into the country from Mexico. “We've seen meth, heroin and fentanyl,” said David Shaw, HSI special agent in charge in San Diego. “They're strapping it right onto their body without properly packaging it. And with fentanyl, a small amount can kill you.”
San Diego Union Tribune

Public Safety News

L.A. County Health Officials Investigating Hepatitis C Outbreak Linked To Mid-City Medical Clinic

Los Angeles County health officials said today six cases of hepatitis C have been linked to a Mid-City medical clinic, and hundreds of patients who were treated at the facility are being urged to get tested. According to the county Department of Public Health, the agency has sent letters to about 500 people who were treated at Westside Multispecialty Medical Group, 6200 Wilshire Blvd., providing information about hepatitis C and the availability of free testing. The clinic operators have agreed to close down while an investigation into the outbreak continues, according to the county. Health officials said they are urging anyone who received injections or infusions or who underwent procedures at the clinic between January 2016 and December 2018 to get tested for hepatitis C.
FOX 11

California Considers Wildfire Insurance Fund To Avoid Repeat Of PG&E's Woes

Hoping to prevent another California utility from being driven into bankruptcy by wildfires, state officials may create a new kind of insurance fund to help cover costs from the increasingly devastating disasters. The idea was proposed last year by a state lawmaker who formally introduced a bill toward that end in January. It could potentially also be taken up by a new commission examining wildfire issues and utility infrastructure after it begins meeting for the first time Monday in Sacramento. How it would work and who would fund it remain unclear, but the bill envisions electric utilities paying into the fund, while a leading consumer group has suggested shifting the financial burden to the property insurance market. State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, who authored the bill last year that created the wildfire commission, said it would be a worthwhile concept for the group to explore.
San Francisco Chronicle

Local Government News

A Report Finds One-Third Of LA County's Homeless Are Black

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said Monday a new report highlighting the elevated levels of homelessness among black Angelenos is a "critical first step" in addressing the disparities affecting the African-American community. Black people make up 9 percent of the population of Los Angeles County, but more than one-third of its population is experiencing homelessness, which is consistent demographically across the country, according to a report by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Ad Hoc Committee on Black People Experiencing Homelessness. "Homelessness is the greatest issue facing Los Angeles and racism is amplifying the impacts of economic inequality and housing access," Los Angeles City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson said. "Now is the time to directly address the root causes of homelessness and racism remains one of the biggest causes."
NBC 4

L.A. County Weighs A Tax On Uber And Lyft To Curb Traffic Congestion

Transportation officials are considering a tax on Uber and Lyft rides in Los Angeles County, saying the Bay Area tech companies don't pay their fair share to maintain public streets and exacerbate congestion in a traffic-choked region. The ride-hailing fee is in the early stages of discussion at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, along with more than a dozen other strategies to manage congestion and fund transportation projects before the 2028 Olympic Games. Metro's board of directors are scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to approve a study of the ride-hailing tax. The directors also will consider approving a study on congestion pricing, which would analyze the effects of converting more carpool lanes to toll lanes, taxing drivers on the number of miles they travel, or charging a fee for motorists to enter certain neighborhoods.
Los Angeles Times

Metro Expands Bike Share Program Into Central Los Angeles

Metro announced Monday that it is expanding its bike sharing network into Central Los Angeles, with more than 40 new stations in MacArthur Park, Rampart Village, Koreatown, Echo Park, Silver Lake and surrounding communities. "County residents have already pedaled more than two million miles on Metro bikes," said county Supervisor and Metro Board Chair Sheila Kuehl. "That's a testament to this cost-effective, easy and healthy way for residents to get around, and a big reason why we are expanding the program to more areas of the county." Metro officials said the expansion will augment the existing downtown L.A. area bike share stations, and are being added to Union Avenue and Olympic Boulevard, Westlake Avenue and 3rd Street, Eighth Street and Vermont Avenue, and Shatto Place and Wilshire Boulevard.
NBC 4