Cyclist who lost leg in hit-and-run near Griffith Park speaks out

Police are still searching for a hit-and-run driver who struck a cyclist last month near Griffith Park, causing him to lose his leg.

Damian Kevitt, 36, is speaking out about the accident that changed his life forever.

He was cycling with his wife along the L.A. River on Feb. 17 when they decided to head to Griffith Park. They were riding westbound on Zoo Drive toward the 5 Freeway when a minivan that was stopped in traffic made a sudden left turn and struck Kevitt, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Kevitt fell to the ground and became lodged underneath the vehicle — unconscious and unable to free himself. The driver allegedly accelerated and dragged Kevitt 600 feet until he fell from the minivan, the CHP said.

The driver never stopped and continued traveling southbound on the 5 Freeway, authorities said. In addition to losing one of his legs below the knee, Kevitt suffered numerous broken bones and severe road rash on his chest and back.

Kevitt has a message for the motorist who left him for dead.

Man with gun is shot by police officers in Echo Park

A man wielding a gun was shot by police officers in Echo Park shortly after midnight Tuesday and was in stable condition at a hospital, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police received multiple reports about 12:15 a.m. of a man with a gun at West Sunset Boulevard and Echo Park Avenue, near the Echo and Echoplex music club. After a short foot pursuit, the man turned around holding an object, and the officers fired on him, said officer Alex Martinez.

A report on KTLA-TV contains cellphone video from witnesses who were sitting in a car and observed the shooting. The video shows a man rounding a corner with several police officers in pursuit before multiple gunshots ring out.

One witness, who gave his name as Carlos, told the TV station officers ordered the man to get down on the ground and drop what he was holding. According to the witness, the man shot at the officers first before they fired back.

“He ran, and we saw him open fire to the cops, and they shot back. We saw him hit the floor,” the witness said.

Man faces charges in alleged attack on actor Tom Sizemore

A man is facing charges of assault after allegedly attacking Tom Sizemore in the actor's downtown apartment and stealing expensive guitars and other property.

The incident was reported around 9 p.m. Thursday in the actor's residence in the 400 block of South Main Street.

According to police, the actor was involved with a woman whose boyfriend came looking for Sizemore, who starred in the critically acclaimed films “Saving Private Ryan,” “Natural Born Killers” and “Black Hawk Down.”

The man, who was not identified, pretended he had a gun and threatened the woman and the actor, whom he allegedly put in a headlock in a bathroom before taking off with guitars and other property, according to police.

Los Angeles police officers eventually found the suspect, who was booked on suspicion of assault, and recovered Sizemore's property.

Known for his tough-guy roles, Sizemore has usually been the subject of law enforcement investigations rather than a victim. In August 2003 he was convicted of misdemeanor charges of physically abusing and harassing his ex-girlfriend, the former “Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss.

Sizemore failed a court-ordered drug test In February 2005 after he was caught trying to defeat a urine test and was ordered into drug rehabilitation for two years.

In June 2007, after he was arrested outside a Bakersfield hotel on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine, Sizemore was sentenced to 16 months in prison for violating probation that stemmed from a January 2006 drug possession charge.

Sizemore was later arrested on a warrant issued on the 2007 Bakersfield case. In 2011, he was arrested on an outstanding battery warrant.

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Reputed MS-13 gang members arrested in food-truck extortion racket

A grand jury indictment was scheduled to be unsealed Monday for about two dozen reputed members of the notorious MS-13 gang in connection with a violent extortion racket that targeted food-truck operators.

The victims of the alleged organized shakedown were not four-wheeled foodie cuisine servers, such as the Kogi BBQ truck, but those who serve blue collar workers at construction sites, according to several law enforcement sources familiar with the case.

Those arrested were reputed Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, gang members but the sources, who did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the case before details were revealed in court, said the arrests were the culmination of a year-long investigation centered in the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Division.

The arrests took place early Friday morning, and the charges against the suspects and the nature of the alleged shakedown will be detailed in a grand jury indictment that will be unsealed Monday in a downtown courtroom, the sources said.

LACMA to host Persian New Year celebration

The Persian New Year, or Nowruz, falls on Wednesday, March 20 this year. 

But on Sunday, the L.A.-based Farhang Foundation, which supports Iranian arts and culture, will hold its fifth annual festival in celebration of the springtime holiday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The events at LACMA will be the largest Nowruz celebration in the U.S., organizers said, and will include art installations, traditional foods and children's activities such as face painting and a scavenger hunt.

People who would like to get an early taste of the event Saturday evening can attend the foundation’s annual short film festival, which will include a screening of finalists, an awards ceremony and a reception. Tickets can be bought through LACMA on a limited basis.

Tickets for the world premiere of the music-dance-video performance "The Dawn of Spring" by Shahin Yousefzamani, at 2 p.m. Sunday, also can be bought through LACMA. 

All other events are free, organizers said -- although visitors who want to take docent-led tours of LACMA’s Near Eastern galleries will need to pay for admission to the museum.

Because the L.A. Marathon is also taking place Sunday, organizers urged partygoers to check street closures and traffic reports before heading to the museum. 

The Farhang Foundation website provides additional details about Nowruz and the festival at LACMA.   Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian population outside of Iran.

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LAPD Chief Charlie Beck called 'a natural' at 'Southland' TV shoot

Cameras flashed. Reporters took notes. But Friday's press conference outside the old LAPD headquarters wasn't a typical meeting with the media.

For one, it wasn't real.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and other police officials spent about 20 minutes -- five takes -- filming a cameo Friday for the season finale of TNT's L.A.-based police drama, "Southland."

“It worked out great, and the chief was a natural,” LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith said.

Smith said the real LAPD officers would probably have just a few quick spots in the finale, but said it would be a “very powerful and moving scene and very powerful and moving episode.”

But, as often is the case, reality intruded somewhat on the shoot.

The scene was supposed to be filmed at the new police headquarters, but an unscripted anti-police protest required it to be moved to the old headquarters, Parker Center, a few blocks away. Smith said a permit for the demonstration indicated 500 people would be there, but only four showed up, causing no problems for the television crews.

The LAPD officials involved had the day off, Smith said.

Friday wasn't the first time that an LAPD chief has appeared in a Hollywood production.

Former Chief William J. Bratton made a brief appearance in "People I Know," which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival three months after Bratton took the helm of the LAPD in 2002. Bratton played a politician in a role modeled on Rudolph Giuliani, with whom Bratton famously bumped heads when Bratton was top cop in New York City and Giuliani was mayor.

Daryl F. Gates, who led the LAPD from 1978 to 1992, played himself several times in the TV series "Hunter" and in the 1995 made-for-television movie "Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam."

And Bernard C. Parks, chief from 1997 to 2002, had a guest spot on the sitcom "Girlfriends," also playing himself.

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Photo: Film crews shoot a scene from the season finale of "Southland," in which LAPD Chief Charlie Beck holds a news conference in front of Parker Center in Los Angeles. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

LAPD arrests man for alleged assault on actor Tom Sizemore

A man was arrested after he allegedly assaulted Tom Sizemore in the actor's downtown apartment and made off with expensive guitars and other property, Los Angeles police said Friday.

The incident was reported around 9 p.m. Thursday in the actor's residence in the 400 block of S. Main Street. According to police, the actor was involved with a woman whose boyfriend came looking for Sizemore, who starred in the critically acclaimed films “Saving Private Ryan,” “Natural Born Killers” and “Black Hawk Down.”

The man, who was not immediately identified, pretended he had a gun and threatened the woman and the actor, whom he allegedly put in a headlock in a bathroom before taking off with guitars and other property, according to police.

LAPD officers eventually found the suspect, who was booked on suspicion of assault, and recovered Sizemore's property.

Known for his tough-guy roles, Sizemore has usually been the subject of law enforcement investigations rather than a victim.

Steve Lopez to AEG's Phil Anschutz: Thanks for nothing

So what do we have to show for another couple of years of dreaming of the return of the NFL to Los Angeles?

Nothing.

The city got sacked.

This after L.A. city officials — many of them bagging campaign donations from Anschutz Entertainment Group -- scrambled around like cheerleaders, kissing the rings of AEG officials. They wasted countless hours on meetings, analysis, negotiations. Meanwhile, AEG worked state legislators to ease the burden of lawsuits over environmental concerns around the building of a stadium.

And now we have the seldom-seen Phil Anschutz telling us his L.A. point man and head NFL promoter, Tim Leiweke, is out. And AEG, which was for sale, is now off the market. Meaning we're stuck with Anschutz at least a while longer, and prospects for an NFL team don't look so hot. One big stumbling block is that Anschutz has stubbornly insisted on controls neither the NFL nor any team owner would go for.

My favorite quote from an Anschutz Q&A with The Times:

"The state has stepped up and done their part here. The city has stepped up, the mayor, City Council, they've stepped up. What's not commonly known is AEG is the one that spent all the money. We've spent $45 million. I'm not in the practice commonly of writing checks just for the fun of writing them. You do that because you see a business opportunity."

Cry me a river, Phil.

Who else should have been writing the checks but the billionaire owner of AEG?

And by the way, AEG has gotten plenty of charity from the city, with tax breaks on the LA Live/hotel development and another promised for the football stadium. As Anschutz admits in that quote, he wasn't writing those checks out of the goodness of his heart. It was an investment in a potential windfall.

He ought to write one more check to cover all the time wasted by local and state officials who bent over backward trying to deliver on a stadium.

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Photo: AEG abruptly announced on Thursday that it had taken the company off the market and that Philip Anschutz would retain ownership. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Big snake discovered among belongings at homeless storage center

Animal Services workers were heading to a downtown Los Angeles storage space used by the homeless after a large snake -- thought to be a python or Boa constrictor -- was discovered Friday among the belongings, officials said.

A staff member discovered the snake while sorting through the items of a woman who hadn't been at the storage space in a week, said Estela Lopez, executive director of the Central City East Assn., a business improvement district that runs the facility.

The staff member opened a box and "there was this thing in it," Lopez said.

Those using the spaces are required to renew every seven days, Lopez said. If they don't, staff members move their belongings to another area of the facility.

L.A. Now Live: AEG exec exits, L.A. NFL stadium future unclear

AEG announced the abrupt departure of chief executive Tim Leiweke on Thursday.

Leiweke, considered the driving force behind the company's success with the LA Live complex and vital to bringing an NFL franchise back to Los Angeles, has not discussed his plans.

At 9 a.m. reporter David Zahniser will talk with us about Leiweke's departure and what it means for AEG and Los Angeles.

Leiweke was known for crossing political boundaries in his lobbying efforts and bringing a flair of entertainment into City Hall to bolster his position.

Observers said it's unclear how his exit will affect building a stadium downtown.