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Los Angeles
Police Protective League
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the union that represents the
rank and file LAPD officers
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Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch
Daily News Digest
from LA Police Protective League
February 18, 2022 |
Law Enforcement News
$50,000 Reward Offered For Info On Fatal Manchester Square Hit-and-Run
The Los Angeles Police Department is looking for information on a suspect wanted for a fatal hit-and-run incident in Manchester Square in January. New video released by LAPD Thursday shows what happened on the night of Jan. 27. Adolph Lyons was crossing Van Ness Avenue where it intersects with Manchester Avenue, when shortly after 9:30 p.m., a black truck turning onto Van Ness hit Lyons in the crosswalk. The truck then backs up, drives around Lyons and pulls over. It then looks like someone gets out of the truck and approaches Lyons, before returning to the truck, which then drives off northbound on Van Ness. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded, but Lyons was pronounced dead at the scene. The LAPD described the truck as a dark-colored, early model. They offered no description of the suspect. A $50,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call the LAPD. FOX 11 |
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Stolen Amazon Truck Strikes, Kills Street Vendor On Sidewalk Near South Park, Police Say
A suspect who allegedly stole an Amazon truck hit and killed a street vendor in the South Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles, investigators say. AIR7 HD video from above the scene showed the wrecked Amazon truck after it had crashed into a building near what appears to be a food stand. Three street vendors were hit by the truck. One of the three hit was a man named Gustavo, who told Eyewitness News he saw the truck hit a parked sedan, as both came right toward him. LAPD says the actual Amazon driver was delivering a package about a mile away, when the suspect, identified as 37-year-old Cristian Ramos Sanchez, somehow took control of the vehicle. Police say Sanchez was driving the truck down Main Street when he crashed into a park car, jumped the sidewalk and hit the three street vendors. When the car crashed, Gustavo did his best to jump away. "I know I hit the wall, and I hit myself, but I can't feel nothing right now because I'm still shaking," Gustavo said. A 57-year-old man was killed immediately. His name has not been publicly released.The crash happened near East 48th and South Main streets Thursday afternoon. Police told ABC7 the driver was taken into custody shortly after. LAPD Det. Juan Campos said a citizen who followed the suspect was able to help police find him three blocks away from the crash. ABC 7 |
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Man Wanted In WeHo-Area Assaults Of 2 Women Taken Into Custody: LAPD
A man wanted in connection with assaulting two women in separate incidents earlier this week has been taken into custody, Los Angeles Police Department officials said Thursday. The man has not been identified, but authorities said he was apprehended about 1:30 p.m. Thursday along the 600 block of Fifth Street in downtown Los Angeles. He is believed to have attacked two women on Tuesday. The first incident occurred about 1 p.m., as the victim was walking along the 800 block of North Vista Street in the Fairfax District, police said. The assailant allegedly grabbed the woman and pulled her toward a nearby garage. “The suspect made threats and demands that caused the female to fear bodily harm,” police said in a community alert. The victim was able to break free from the man's grasp and ran for help. The man fled from the area and was soon seen in the 7600 block of Hampton Avenue in West Hollywood. “While in this area, the suspect was reported to have committed a similar assault with an additional adult female,” authorities said without elaborating. The second incident is being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Police did not release any information about what led them to the man in custody. He was previously described as a possible transient. KTLA 5 |
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Venice Resident Gives Firsthand Account Of Attempted Home Invasion By Homeless Man
Vicki Halliday was home Tuesday night when she was startled by a homeless man, who appeared to be on drugs, trying to break in. “The unhoused, semi-drug-addicted man scaled a tall, locked gate and attempted to go shopping in my apartment,” stated Halliday. Halliday lives around the corner from the Venice Bridge Home entry gate. She said that she and other neighbors have seen a significant uptick in crime since the ABH opened, but even more so recently. “You think you are safe and secure, but none of us can protect ourselves from the unknown, illogical behavior of the mentally ill or drug addicts,” stated Halliday. “They can scale tall fences [referring to her attempted break-in] Locks mean nothing. Our possessions mean nothing unless they can be instantly appraised as trading coins in the drug game.” Neighbors of the Venice Bridge Home continue to deal with declining living conditions, including increased crime. “The SecZ area of Venice around Mayor Garcetti's Bridge Home has been a disaster since the day it opened two years ago. The City upheld not one of the promises made to area residents. We've endured fires, assaults, massive trash build-up and vandalism.” Halliday said that the Los Angeles Police Department tries to help, “But between defunding and weekly interpretations of existing laws by the City Attorney, they don't always have the staff to deal with things like trespassing. So there are individual cops and City workers who try. They try hard and have to do it almost surreptitiously because it isn't popular to enforce the laws.” WestSide Current |
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LAPD Revises And Relaxes Some Masking Rules
The Los Angeles Police Department Wednesday again revised - and relaxed - some of its face covering rules for its employees, directing unvaccinated officers and others to wear masks while interacting with the public or working closely with a partner. Vaccinated officers, the order said, must cover their faces when they're within six feet of members of the public, while they're searching someone, or while transporting a person to or from jail. The LAPD said all employees have to wear "clean and undamaged" face coverings anytime they're working indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. Last month the LAPD briefly tightened its rules for masking amidst a temporary spike in the number of Covid infections amongst its staff. More than 80% of the LAPD's workforce is now fully vaccinated. NBC 4 |
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Man Arrested Three Times Within 16 Hours, Glendale Police Say
A man was arrested three times within 16 hours in Glendale and police are blaming LA County's emergency "zero-dollar" bail order for his repeated release. On February 13, just after 3 a.m., Glendale police officers observed the man, identified as 47-year-old James Langdon, pacing in a parking lot near the intersection of Colorado St. and Louise St. Langdon run out of the lot and across a crosswalk against a solid "Don't Walk" sign. Officers say they attempted to stop Langdon for the infraction but he fled from officers. Officers chased him on foot and after a brief struggle they detained Langdon for the violation. He was then arrested for obstruction. According to a statement from Glendale police, before Langdon was arrested he requested medical attention and was transported to the hospital. He was then issued a notice to appear in court at a later date and released at the hospital. Later that morning around 9:30 a.m., Glendale officers responded to a business on the 1400 block of E. Chevy Chase Dr. after receiving reports of a man trespassing. Once officers arrived on scene, they located Langdon who was trying to enter a closed part of the business. Langdon was then arrested and booked for trespassing. According to police, due to L.A. County's emergency "zero-dollar" bail order, Langdon was released from custody within three hours of being booked. FOX 11 |
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CHP Pulls Off Pursuit Of RV; Suspect Wanted For Alleged Assault With An Axe
California Highway Patrol officers were in pursuit of person wanted for an alleged assault with a deadly weapon who was driving a recreational vehicle Thursday evening. The pursuit began at around 6:15 p.m. in Monrovia, before the driver led officers throughout the Southland via the westbound 210 and 2 Freeways, sometimes driving up to 80 miles per hour. Initial reports detailed that the suspect was wanted in connection for assault with an axe. The suspect allegedly threatened the manager and customers at The Home Depot location in Monrovia, before swinging the axe at the manager. The suspect exited onto surface streets in the Silverlake area at around 6:25 p.m. CHP called off their ground units at 6:30 p.m. after the suspect drove on the wrong side of the road, a standard procedure for law enforcement in pursuit of any vehicle. After authorities ended their pursuit, the suspect exited the RV just after 6:30 p.m. on Rosebud Avenue and Allesandro Street. He fled on foot, before appearing to enter a building in the same area, just a couple hundred yards down the street. As of 6:45 p.m., the suspect was still considered to be at large. CBS 2 |
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Personal-Injury Lawyer Who Stole Millions From Settlements Gets 12 Years In Prison
A former personal-injury lawyer who stole millions of dollars from clients' settlements before fleeing to Costa Rica was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles to 12 years in prison. Philip James Layfield, 48, aka Philip Samuel Pesin, was found guilty in August on 23 charges, including 19 counts of felony wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, one count of tax evasion and other charges, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles. After the verdict, he was remanded to federal custody. Layfield formerly owned and operated several law firms in California, including offices in Irvine, Los Angeles and El Segundo, along with Park City, Utah, and Scottsdale, Ariz. In 2016, Layfield represented a client who was left seriously injured after being hit by a car in Orange County, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Layfield negotiated a $3.9-million settlement for his client but stole approximately $2 million for his own personal use and to pay other clients whose settlement funds he had misappropriated, according to charging documents. The client in the Orange County case received only $25,000, according to federal prosecutors. In 2016, Layfield failed to file a federal income tax return, despite receiving $3 million, which included settlement money he had embezzled from clients, authorities said. Los Angeles Times |
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Amazon Suspends Black Lives Matter From Its Charity Platform
The beleaguered Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation has been kicked off Amazon's charity platform for its failure to disclose where tens of millions of dollars in donations it received nearly two years ago have ended up. AmazonSmile, which gives a portion of eligible purchases on the online shopping site to charities, said it “had to temporarily suspend” the group today, an Amazon spokesperson told The Post. “States have rules for nonprofits, and organizations participating in AmazonSmile need to meet those rules,” the spokesperson said. “Unfortunately this organization fell out of compliance with the rules in several states, so we've had to temporarily suspend them from the program until they come into compliance.” Amazon plans to hold any funds that have accumulated for BLMGNF “until they're back in compliance,” the spokesperson said. AmazonSmile has raised more than $300 million for charities, according to its website. In October 2020, BLMGNF took in more than $65 million in donations from Thousand Currents, a charity that manages assets of grassroots nonprofits, according to documents filed with the California attorney general. But the group has so far failed to disclose what it did with the cash. As a result, several states have revoked its ability to collect donations. In California, where the group is based, the state's Department of Justice warned BLMGNF's leaders earlier this month that they would be “personally liable” for any delinquency fees and fines. New York Post |
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Northern California Authorities Solve 25-Year-Old Killing
A serial rapist who died in prison last year has been linked to the killing of a woman in California's wine country more than 25 years ago, authorities said this week. DNA evidence led investigators to identify Jack Bokin — who died in a prison medical facility in December — as the man who bludgeoned Michelle Veal in July 1996 in unincorporated Sonoma County, the county Sheriff's Office said Wednesday. Veal's nude body was discovered by a survey crew on the side of a road near some wineries. The 32-year-old Union City resident had a fractured skull and a broken neck. A quarter-century later, detectives submitted evidence to a laboratory for testing and in January, a match was made to Bokin through a DNA database maintained by the FBI, authorities said. Veal left three daughters. “There's a lot of mixed emotions with the family and obviously our investigations unit,” sheriff's Sgt. Juan Valencia said. “Obviously it doesn't bring her ... back, but now there's some closure.” “Though she has been gone, memories of her beautiful smile, impeccable style, generous spirit and enthusiasm for life live on forever in the hearts of the many people whose lives she touched,” said a family statement reported by KTVU-TV. Los Angeles Times |
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Phoenix Police Release Video Of Ambush Before 9 Officers Wounded
Phoenix police on Thursday released 26 seconds of body camera footage of last week's ambush and barricade situation that left five patrol officers shot and four others injured by shrapnel or ricochets. The brief but graphic footage showed a police officer walking toward the front door of a home where a woman reportedly had been shot around 2 a.m. last Friday. The woman later died. Police were responding to a 911 call about the shooting. “Come on. Come on. She's choking on her own blood,” a man said from the door's archway. His face is blurred out in the footage. As the 23-year-old officer moved closer, he asked the shirtless man near the door who else was in the house. “Just me,” said the man, who then raised a handgun and fired at least six shots at the policeman, who was severely wounded on his right arm and couldn't return fire. The officer ran away frantically, saying “99! 999! I've been shot! 999!” as more gunshots rang out. Shatifa Lobley, 29, of Phoenix, was shot inside the home in a domestic dispute, authorities said. Investigators believe the shooter was her ex-boyfriend, Morris Richard Jones III, 36. Lobley died after being taken to a hospital, police said. The rest of the body-cam footage may be released by next Friday, according to police. Associated Press |
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Watch: Atlanta Cop Talks Distressed Man Down From Bridge
An Atlanta police officer was praised for saving a man's life over the weekend after he talked a distressed man down from an overpass bridge. Bodycam video shows Sgt. Jason Combee talking with the man, who is clinging to the fence above a busy highway. According to FOX 5, the man had called 911 to say he was going to get a knife and jump from the overpass. But after a conversation with Combee, the man stepped away from danger and agreed to be treated at a local hospital. “How are you doing this morning?” Combee asks in the video. “Terrible,” the man responded. Traffic noise makes it difficult to hear their conversation, but after speaking for a few minutes the man stepped away from danger and agreed to be treated at a local hospital. "The Atlanta Police Department wants to thank Sgt. Combee, the responding Zone 1 officers, and Grady EMTs for their response and careful handling of this volatile and sensitive situation," the agency wrote on Facebook . "The calm demeanor, professionalism and humanity displayed by Sgt. Combee is worthy of recognition. We are proud to have him and so many officers and supervisors on our force who act in the highest interest of the community each day." PoliceOne |
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Public Safety News
Firefighters Attack House Fire In Sylmar
Firefighters Thursday quickly extinguished a blaze at a house in the Sylmar area, and no one was hurt. The fire was reported about 1:15 p.m. in the attached carport of a one-story home in the 13600 block of North Norris Avenue, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported. Thirty-eight firefighters extinguished the flames in about 33 minutes, and a knockdown was officially called at 1:44 p.m. The cause was under investigation. CBS 2 |
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LA City Cuts Back COVID Testing For Unvaccinated Employees
The City of Los Angeles has decided to cut the frequency of Covid testing for thousands of unvaccinated public employees, including police officers and firefighters, from twice weekly to once weekly, according to memos obtained by the NBC4 I-Team. Additionally, the City is considering revamping the testing program entirely because of trouble obtaining timely results that can be used to protect coworkers and the public from infection, several senior officials familiar with the discussions told the I-Team. "There have been major problems," confided one City official knowledgeable about the testing program but who was not authorized to discuss the issues publicly. The official said in the last month some test kits were lost, others were packaged for shipment to a lab but were never sent or were sent late, and some other test kits may have been intentionally sabotaged by employees. Workers are being given the test vials and swabs to self-administer, and are supposed to drop the completed tests in a collection bin at their work sites. Two days after NBC4 first inquired about the reasons for the testing reduction LA Mayor Eric Garcetti's office said it was a result of the falling Covid-19 case rate. NBC 4 |
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Authorities Seeking Help Identifying 2 Hospitalized Patients
Authorities sought the public's help Thursday to identify two men who were taken to Dignity Health facilities from Long Beach and downtown Los Angeles. At about 10 a.m. Jan. 1, a man was found near 601 E. Seventh St. in Long Beach, according to the hospital system. “We are seeking the public's help in identifying this individual because he has no documentation or evidence of his identity with him,” according to a statement from Dignity Health. The man was described as Hispanic, about 73 years of age, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 198 pounds, with black thinning hair and dark brown eyes. Anyone knowing his identity was urged to call Dignity Health-St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach at 562-491-9831. At about 9:40 a.m. Dec. 3, 2021, a man was found near Pershing Square Park in downtown Los Angeles, also without any documentation or ID, Dignity Health officials said. The man was described as Middle Eastern, in his 60s, about 5 feet 6 inches tall, about 120 pounds, with black/gray hair and black eyes. He has a mustache and a “droopy” right eyelid. Anyone knowing his identity was urged to call Dignity Health- California Hospital Medical Center at 213-461-0026, ext. 5589. CBS 2 |
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LA County Records 67 More COVID Deaths
Los Angeles County again reported sharp declines in COVID-19 case rates Thursday, highlighting an end to the winter surge of cases brought on by the infectious Omicron variant of the virus, but the daily death toll remained elevated, with another 67 fatalities reported. “There is still work to be done to reduce transmission to a level where there's less risk in places where people live and gather, and sadly we've not yet seen a significant decline in deaths,” county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. On Wednesday, the county's COVID death toll surpassed the 30,000 mark. The 67 new fatalities reported Thursday boosted that total to 30,146. Another 3,312 new COVID cases were reported by the county Thursday, raising the cumulative total from throughout the pandemic to 2,772,569. The average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 2.9%. Ferrer noted that the average daily number of new cases reported over the past week was about 3,800, which was nearly half the average from the week prior. MyNewsLA.com |
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73-Year-Old Hiker Found After He Was Reported Missing In Mountain Snowstorm
The children of Gab Song told everyone they knew their father disappeared hiking during Tuesday's sudden snowstorm on Mount Pinos. Not only is he OK. He required no medical attention. His family says he's fast asleep and resting at home. They joked he looked refreshed, like he returned from the spa. But it was a scary situation with an unexpected and wonderful ending. Song was reunited with his hiking buddies and family Thursday afternoon after surviving two and a half days in snow-covered mountains. "I asked them, 'I need help,'" the 73-year-old father of three said describing how he flagged down a stranger. "I was not sure that I would make it to this moment. Daughter and son are thankful to so many for bringing their dad home. "I feel like humanity level is just really inspiring," the daughter said. "We felt the love." It turns out Tuesday's unexpected snowstorm wasn't a curse, but a blessing. "Luckily because of the snow, he was able to drink water from the snow," she said. "And for the rest of the two days he said he ate the snow. "That was -- we call it the snow diet." He also had a lighter to start a fire. He survived three days in the wilderness in slacks and a belt. The avid hiker knows not to make the family worry again. NBC 4 |
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Local Government News
Crime, Homelessness Frame Race For Mayor Of Los Angeles
The contest to become the next mayor of Los Angeles can be distilled into a single question with no easy answer: Who can fix this mess? Tourists still flock to Hollywood's Walk of Fame, the palm trees soar along Sunset Boulevard, and the Los Angeles Rams are Super Bowl champions. But in many ways the nation's second most populous city feels diminished. An out-of-control homeless crisis plays out on the streets daily, sometimes with deadly consequences. A rising crime rate — spotlighted by home invasions and smash-and-grab thefts at luxury stores — has contributed to a creeping sense of civic disorder. Miles of streets and sidewalks are crumbling. Sexual harassment and corruption scandals have tainted City Hall. Two years after the start of the pandemic, many yearn for a return to normalcy that hasn't come. Tellingly, a region once associated with stratospheric growth is losing population, in part from frustrated residents deciding a brighter future is somewhere else. As voters in the city of 4 million people begin to assess a large, diverse cast of candidates to replace beleaguered two-term Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti, at issue is whether LA might break from its liberal moorings and embrace a candidate with a strong emphasis on public safety. KTLA 5 |
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About the LAPPL - Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents the more than 9,900 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. The LAPPL can be found on the Web at:
www.LAPD.com |
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