Arizona Police Officer Dies After Being Hit At Crash Scene

A 23-year veteran of the Phoenix Police Department was hit and killed after responding to the scene of a crash Thursday morning. Officer Paul Rutherford was directing traffic at the scene of an earlier crash when he was hit by another vehicle. ODMP.org reported that he was taken to the hospital where he died. Rutherford is survived by his wife and two children. "Our community has a reason to mourn because once again one of our officers was killed in the line of duty," Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams told AZCentral. "This is just another example of the inherent dangers that our officers face each and every day and yet they put that blue uniform on and go out and serve our community," Williams said.
PoliceOne

Oakland Police Honor Four Officers Killed On Duty 10 Years Ago

A decade after four Oakland police officers were fatally gunned down in a single day, the horror of March 21, 2009, still burns in the memories of the fallen officers' family in blue, as well as their loved ones and the community they sacrificed their lives to protect. Acting Deputy Chief Roland Holmgren, then a member of the SWAT team, remembers racing to the scene following a call that two officers were shot during a routine traffic stop. The second broadcast came as he arrived: two more officers were down. The fallen — Sgt. Mark Dunakin, Officer John Hege, Sgt. Ervin Romans and Sgt. Daniel Sakai — were honored by surviving family, current officers and supporters Thursday, which marked the 10-year anniversary of their deaths.
San Francisco Chronicle

Man On Roof In Standoff With Police In Sun Valley

A police standoff took place between LAPD officers and a man on the roof of a 7-Eleven in the area of Sunland Boulevard and Nettleton Street in Sun Valley. At one point, officers shot a Taser that connected with the individual but he bounced back and refused to get off the roof. At about 8:13 p.m., the individual climbed down from the rooftop and officers took him into custody with a brief struggle. The man was loaded onto a gurney and into a Los Angeles County Fire Department ambulance that will take the man to the hospital for medical attention.
FOX 11

LAPD Looking For Man Wanted In Rape At Metro Red Line Station

Los Angeles Police Department detectives are asking for help in finding a man they say choked, punched and raped a person at the Metro Red Line's Sunset Boulevard/Vermont Avenue station last week. Police said the victim asked the suspect for directions around 6 p.m. March 14, and that the man then “lured” the person into a secluded emergency-exit area at the Metro station. An LAPD news release described the man as a transient who frequents Metro stations in Compton and Santa Monica. Police would not confirm the gender of the person who was attacked, but KTLA-TV Channel 5 reported that it was a woman. The man is described as being between 5 foot 7 and 5 foot 10 and weighing 165 to 180 pounds. He has a shaved head, wears an earring in his right ear and has a 2- to 3-inch scar on his left forearm, police said. Anyone with information can contact Det. Rodriguez at (323) 561-3328. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to (877) 527-3247. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD Seeks Armed Robbers Targeting Landscapers, Construction Workers

Police Thursday sought public help in identifying a group of armed robbery suspects who have targeted Hispanic men working as landscapers or in construction in the Panorama City and North Hills area. The crimes began on Jan. 27 and continued through Saturday and have occurred between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department. "The suspects approach the victims as they are exiting a financial institution, or check cashing service location, and ask for assistance in moving furniture," according to a police statement. Once the victims agree to help and enter the suspect's vehicle, they are driven to a residential location, robbed at gunpoint and left stranded, police said. "The suspects are described as 40- to 50-year-old male Hispanics with brown hair and brown eyes," police said.
NBC 4

Valley Bookkeeper Sentenced In Fashion District Drug-Money Laundering Scheme

The San Fernando Valley bookkeeper for a Los Angeles Fashion District import-export textile company linked to a money laundering scheme to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars that came from drug traffickers was sentenced Thursday to three months of home detention for failing to report currency transactions over $10,000. Alma Villalobos, 56, of Arleta, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt to pay a $1,000 fine and serve two years of probation. Villalobos pleaded guilty a year ago to one felony count of conspiring to structure cash transactions for Pacific Eurotex in downtown Los Angeles. In court documents, the government said Pacific Eurotex and its principals started laundering drug money in 2012 and continued to do so up until a raid two years later.
Los Angeles Daily News

In A First For San Diego Police, Genetic Genealogy Helps Solve 1979 Homicide

Barbara Becker's boys were just 7 and 9 years old on March 21, 1979, the day they returned from school, headed into the living room and found their mother's bloody body. She had been repeatedly stabbed in her neck and back. Investigators found blood in several rooms of the La Jolla home. Police at the time said Becker, 37, had tried to escape her attacker. She had fought hard. Some of the blood was his. It would take four decades to discover his name. The answer would come through genetic genealogy, a sleuthing method that combines DNA and family trees. On Thursday, exactly 40 years to the day of Becker's death, San Diego police announced that they have solved her slaying, and identified the suspect as Paul Jean Chartrand. Chartrand died 25 years ago. Police did not say how old he was or how he died. Thursday's announcement marked the first time that San Diego police have publicly named a suspected killer that they identified through genetic genealogy — a method that gained national attention last year after it was used to identify a suspect in the Golden State Killer case.
San Diego Union Tribune

Gov. Newsom Considering Plan To Prohibit New Death Sentences In California

A week after issuing an executive order imposing a blanket moratorium on the execution of California death row inmates, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is considering a plan to prohibit any new death sentences in local criminal cases. Newsom's pronouncement could create conflict with another top Democratic leader, state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, who supports capital punishment, even though the governor said he wants to work collaboratively with the attorney general. Newsom reiterated his desire to abolish the death penalty and said he hopes to work with Becerra and others to determine whether, as governor, he can act “on behalf of the people in this state to no longer prosecute death.”
KTLA 5

Alleged ATF Gun Thief Is On The Lam

The search is on for the West Virginia man accused of stealing firearms and gun parts from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Judge Robert Trumble issued a bench warrant after Christopher Lee Yates of Martinsburg failed to appear at a preliminary hearing on Wednesday morning at the Federal Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. Yates had been free on bond since March 6. He's turned over his passport and, according to the conditions of his release, he was under curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day, and was not allowed to leave the area. He was also forbidden from possessing any guns. Court filings say that on two separate occasions in late February and early March, Yates was found with at least three different stolen guns and an unknown number of firearm parts.
The Trace

Public Safety News

Firefighters Rescue Hiker Stuck On Rock 150 Feet Above Ground In Chatsworth

A team of 45 firefighters rescued a hiker who found himself stuck on the face of a rock about 150 feet above ground in the Garden of Gods area in Chatsworth on Saturday. Urban Search and Rescue firefighters used a rope to lower the 19-year- old man from a cliff in the area of the 11000 block of North Redmesa Road, Capt. Brian Wall of the Los Angeles Fire Department said. The rescue was completed about 2:30 p.m. The hiker became stuck about 1:18 p.m. when he “was unable to continue climbing up or down a rock face,” Wall said. He was able to use his cell phone to speak with firefighters about his location and status. The man was taken to a local hospital though his condition was not immediately known.
Los Angeles Daily News

It's Expected To Be 30 Years Before Metro Extends To West Hollywood, Beverly Grove

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's passenger rail system stretches deep into the corners of Los Angeles County, drawing commuters to downtown from Long Beach, Azusa, North Hollywood and Santa Monica. But only a handful of the Metro system's 93 stations intersect with a second line, a design that often forces riders to travel miles out of the way to change trains. A rail extension Metro is planning through Hollywood, Beverly Grove and West Hollywood would address that problem, serving as a north-south spine through central L.A. and creating transfer points with three other rail lines. But the line is not slated to open for another three decades.
KTLA 5

A Look Inside New Bridge Housing Center Opening Up In Hollywood

Officials Tuesday night toured a new bridge housing center for the homeless, set to open in Hollywood next week. Chad Roy has been homeless for over 20 years and says he fears for his life almost every day. Thanks to the city of Los Angeles and its partners, a temporary bridge housing facility with 72 beds is opening up in Roy's Hollywood neighborhood along Schrader Boulevard, between Sunset Boulevard and Selma Avenue. Eyewitness News toured the facility, which was constructed in a city-owned parking lot and will operate for the next three years. 
ABC 7