Some pro soccer players bound for Los Angeles are being hailed as heroes. The FBI says members of a Major League Soccer team, the New England Revolution, helped subdue an out-of-control American Airlines passenger who stripped, put his clothes back on and then tried to open an emergency exit door. According to the Associated Press, the plane landed safely at LAX, and the team had some interesting stories to tell:
Craig Tornberg, the soccer team’s general manager, said he confronted the man as soon as he saw him emerge naked from one of the plane’s restrooms. "I said he should get back into the bathroom and put on his clothes," Tornberg said after the plane landed in Los Angeles. "He said something strange to me. He said, 'I don’t hear you. I don’t see you.'" Still, the man complied and got dressed, Tornberg said, before he "made a beeline for the emergency door." Tornberg said he, assistant coach Gwynne Williams and Michael Burns, the team’s vice president for player personnel, grabbed the man and forced him into a seat as a flight attendant ran to get restraints.
Justice, finally, for a Redondo Beach police dog wounded in the line of duty. Jimmie Divo Lunceford, who stabbed the dog -- and made criminal threats against two ex-girlfriends -- was sentenced today to five years and eight months in prison. According to City News Service, the case involved a German shepherd named Valor:
The dog -- which was brought into court by its handler during the trial and referred to as Court Exhibit 7 -- was stabbed twice in the side of its neck last July 30 and had to undergo an hourlong surgery. Officers initially went to look for Lunceford a day earlier after getting reports about the threats, but police were not able to find him. Police were called to the home in Redondo Beach again about 5 a.m. July 30. Lunceford yelled at responding officers, telling them he had a knife and wanted them to shoot him, police said. The police dog was injured after being sent to try to subdue Lunceford, and the canine’s handler, Officer Ken Greenleaf, called the animal. Lunceford then dropped the knife and was arrested without incident, according to police. He has remained jailed since then.
Just learned that Jill Leovy, founder of the Homicide Report, the ground-breaking LAT blog that tries to chronicle every single murder in Los Angeles, is writing a book. No title yet.
Though inspired by the blog, Leovy's book won't be a recap. Instead, she'll use the knowledge gleaned from her work to look at race and murder rates, and to formulate a theory of her own about of the causes of inner-city warfare. Our lit-blogger, Carolyn Kellogg, gets some details:
Jacket Copy: Does your book chronicle all 845 murders in Los Angeles last year?
Jill Leovy: No. The book is not related to the Homicide Report blog, nor to my efforts to cover all homicides in Los Angeles County last year. (In reality, there were more then 900.) The book will be about the syndrome of high homicide rates among blacks in America, their causes and consequences.
Jacket Copy: Will you focus on a specific area or region?
JL: The book will be mostly reported out of Los Angeles, but it seeks to explain a national phenomenon. High homicide rates among blacks are everywhere ...
The full Q&A, in Jacket Copy, is here. And check out the Homicide Report, now in the capable hands of Ruben Vives.
A new report on the medical treatment of female inmates at Los Angeles County jails said deputies say shackles are generally not used to restrain pregnant prisoners during childbirth. But as The Times' Richard Winton reports:
A county hospital delivery nurse said "leg chains, which are heavy but long enough to allow the inmate to get to the bathroom, are often present during childbirth," the report stated.
A few hours after Rachael Mullenix of Huntington Beach said she saw her boyfriend fatally stab her mother to death, she sent him this text message:
“I love you. Am I going to see you soon? Are you in trouble? Can I call you?”
Mullenix and her boyfriend are on trial for the September 2006 slaying of her mother. Trial coverage in the Huntington Beach Independent and the OC Register.
Well, if you are LAPD's Deputy Chief Charles Beck, you turn around and arrest the law-breaking cop. That's what Beck did earlier in his career when he was working undercover for the LAPD and ran into officers who were not following the law, he told Celeste Fremon at Witness LA:
"I actually have a tape too — where [his former partner] and I were working undercover in narcotics and we got evidence planted on us. That was a long time ago. But there’s a message here. It does happen occasionally. But when it happens, we take it very seriously. People lose their jobs and they get prosecuted. And we make an example of them."
The latest LAPD crime stats for first six months of 2008 are in. Although homicides are up, rape, robbery and assault rates have dropped compared to the same period last year. Property crimes dropped too. Times reporter Phil Willon passes along this info:
Violent crime:
Homicide up 4.3%
Rape down 11.3%
Robbery down 8.6%
Aggravated assault down 5.7%
Total violent crime down 7.2%
Property crime:
Burglary down 5%
Grand theft auto down 8.2%
Burglary/theft from vehicle down 6.9%
Personal/other theft down 6.1%
Total property crime down 6.6%
Total "gang-related crime" down 15.3%
Meanwhile, Jose Luis Saenz is the latest addition to the LAPD's Top Ten gang list. Police say Saenz killed two gang members, then murdered his girlfriend to silence her about the murders.
The attorneys representing former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona in his upcoming corruption trial have apparently decided that the less the jurors hear from the ex-lawman the better. On Monday, the lawyers took their latest stab at limiting what federal jurors will hear from about 10 hours of secretly taped conversations between Carona and friend Donald Haidl, who was cooperating with prosecutors. Jurors would no longer hear Carona making numerous sexist and racist comments if the lawyers get their way, says the OC Register and LAT.
Attorneys say the remarks have nothing to do with the legal issues at hand and fear they will generate anger an "unfair prejudice" among jurors to their client. The judge rejected a previous request by Carona's attorneys to exclude the recordings. In some of the transcripts released by prosecutors, Carona defends his record while bragging about his sex life:
"I've met millionaires, billionaires, I've traveled on personal airplanes, and I never shook anybody down .... Not that I haven't, you know, drank some great wine and had great booze and ... got some, you know, phenomenal (sex) along the way."
Javier Francisco Ovando, the former gang member who was awarded a $15 million settlement as a victim of the Rampart police scandal, was arrested Sunday night after an hour-long, high-speed chase that began in Glendale. What was Ovando driving? A 2001 "canon" colored Hummer, police said.
The prospect of two rival biker gangs -- the Mongols and the Vagos -- riding into town would normally generate visions of deadly violence and mayhem. In Palm Springs, however, the bikers' arrival means sold-out hotels and jam packed bars and restaurants.
That may explain why some of this resort town's business and civic leaders have for several years now put aside concerns about possible violence to welcome the Mongols, Vagos and many other bikers for October's American Heat Palm Springs Motorcycle Weekend.
For this year's event, the City Council voted to move the event to its main drag, Palm Canyon Drive, chip in $35,000 for public safety and clean up and even suspended its noise ordinance for American Heat, reports the Desert Sun. Police and some council members warned about possible violence, especially with the presence of two of California's most notorious biker clubs:
The Mongols and Vagos Motorcycle Clubs are identified as outlaw motorcycle gangs in the Organized Crime in California Annual Report to the California Legislature 2005 document prepared by the California Department of Justice.
"When you get this event, you have Vagos, Hells Angels, the Green Machine, and when they all come together, they are bitter enemies," Palm Springs Police Chief David Dominguez said. "That's when we have the potential for violence."
Mayor Steve Pougnet conceded that there is a potential for violence but noted that police have done a good job of keeping the peace in earlier American Heat events.
If there are problems in October, however, Pougnet will most likely not be around. As he has in previous years, the mayor usually leaves town during American Heat because he said he "can't stand the noise."
Scores of residents in Glassell Park were rousted from their beds at 4 a.m. as hundreds of law enforcement officers raided the neighborhood in search of the Avenue's gang Drew Street clique. More than 70 people were named in a federal indictment, Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Andrew Blankstein
report.
The hope is the action will help break the gang's hold over the area. That's police talking to residents in the photo, who, truth be told, look more than a wee bit skeptical. They complained to officers about being terrified as they were wakened during the raid.
Details of the arrests and indictment are in the full story here.
OK, so I'm kind of scared to write this post. (Is it totally chicken to say Garrett Therolf is the one working on the story?) Among the bank accounts maintained by the L.A. County Jail so inmates can buy snacks, phone cards and other extras, the ones belonging to a Mafia hit man and two bank robbers are among those that grew by $5,000 or more during incarceration. Garrett reports:
Some inmates are engaging in large transactions, and it's possible that the in-house bank may be helping to facilitate further crime, the Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury reported Monday. No effort was made to determine whether the deposits came from legitimate sources.
Here's the key section of the report:
"Although we appreciate that those inmates who have large quantities of money in their accounts, in some cases hundreds or thousands of dollars, represent a very small percentage of the jail population, we also recognize that those at the top of the inmate pecking order, the most powerful and dangerously well-connected, are likewise a very small percentage of the jail population.
The thought of these “shot-callers” having large sums of money at their disposal is disturbing. Certain possibilities come to mind, including bribery, money-laundering, and violence for hire."
He had friends in the Rollin' 20s, part of the deadly Bloods gang, and was known by the nickname Deuces Wild. When he was shot and killed, he was wearing a red belt with black skulls and the number 20 associated with the gang. Could this be the very same Jamiel Shaw II, the innocent high school athlete who was killed by an undocumented immigrant and alleged gang member in what many believe was a racially motivated shooting?
The troubling details of the Inglewood teenager's possible connections to gang life were revealed Thursday during a preliminary hearing. It's not the first time that someone has pointed out that Shaw's shooting might have to do more with gang rivalry than racial hatred. Earlier this month, an article in LA Weekly noted that online tributes and albums created by Shaw's friends includes photos of them flashing gang signs next to images of candles burning in the 17-year-old's honor.
Of course, many youths who live in gang territory often have friends and neighbors who are in gangs and may adopt their manner of dress and symbolism. That does not necessarily make them a gang member. Shaw's parents maintain that their son was not involved in gang life, and police said they never found Shaw, who has no arrest record, hanging out with known gang members. But police claim that Shaw's alleged killer, undocumented immigrant Pedro Espinoza, 19, has ties to the 18th Street gang, a rival of the Bloods.
Since Shaw's shooting March 2, his parents and others have used his death to put pressure on the Los Angeles Police Department to scrap a controversial rule that limits police inquiries into a suspect's immigration status. But the former football all-star's alleged gang ties could make him a less than ideal poster boy for the cause.
Growing questions about his gang connections and their possible role in his shooting also have undermined arguments that Shaw's death was largely the result of racial tensions between blacks and Latinos. After Thursday's hearing, Najee Ali, director of Project Islamic Hope, said:
"We still support the family and want to make sure that justice is done, but we can no longer support the belief that Shaw was targeted because of his race."
An Irvine Eagle Scout who had just graduated from high school is arrested on burglary charges after he allegedly entered 30 vehicles ... Three more San Fernando Valley students allege they were sexually assaulted by a basketball coach ... An Orange County man flying an ultralight plane dies after the aircraft crash-lands at an Antelope Valley airport ... Sections of the 710 Freeway will be closed for road repairs ... A deaf hiker was found after getting lost in Anza Borrego State Park as temperatures reached 112 degrees ... A woman dies in a house fire in Bellflower ... A gunman wounds three in Pomona ... A woman is injured in L.A. when a police officer crashes into her car ... A teen in Harbor City shoots his cousin in the head during an argument ... For the second day in a row, the lights inexplicably go out in Duarte.
Sheriff Lee Baca is making some waves for his tough talk on what he considers the serious problem of race-motivated gang violence. Baca thinks he has one answer: An emergency operations center to deal with street gangs.
For the last six months, a dozen full-time analysts have been sifting through crime data in the basement of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department's Monterey Park headquarters with one goal: breaking the region’s entrenched gang culture.
But the Southern California Gang Emergency Operations Center, the brainchild of Sheriff Lee Baca, is not just staffed by cops poring over statistics.
It draws on the expertise of numerous professionals -- including educators, social workers and mental health and healthcare workers -- in developing strategies to fight gangs.
Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said the clearinghouse is modeled on the county’s emergency operations center, which is activated after a natural disaster or any other emergency requiring a response from multiple agencies.
Whitmore said that, to Baca, street gangs are “on par with a disaster, albeit man-made."
If you can stand to read about how the Lakers blew the biggest first-quarter lead in NBA Finals history, then wrote their names in the record books with the biggest breakdown in the NBA Finals in the last 37 years, and how Kobe Bryant walked off the court with time on the clock, then by all means, read our coverage. Bill Plaschke's righteous rage will actually make you feel better. T.J. Simers blames Phil Jackson. The game story pulls no punches. The photos, well, they'll just break your heart. Thank God it's Friday.
And now onto the real world:
L.A.'s top cops have a turf war of their own going. L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca says race plays a big role in gang violence, while LAPD Chief Bill Bratton says it's actually about drugs and money.
Manson acolyte Susan Atkins may be released from prison because she has brain cancer.
Judge Alex Kozinski wants you to look at some porn -- his own. Specifically, he's called for an investigation into the fact that he kept hard-core images on his website to determine whether he's considered fit to judge obscenity cases.
The Japanese gangster who wanted a liver transplant at UCLA tried to pay $1 million for a U.S. visa.
Got a Q about same-sex marriage in California? Chances are, we've got the A.
Meanwhile, the Kern County clerk says she's hurt by the criticism at her decision to halt all civil marriage ceremonies.
Feeling a particularly vicious pinch in your wallet? You're not dreaming: May's jump in inflation was the biggest in six months.
Check out our coverage of the "Georgia O'Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle" exhibit now in the San Diego Museum of Art. What's Hillary Clinton got to do with it? Ironic, in light of today's piece in the NYT.
There's a second arrest in the Foshay Learning Center sex scandal.... A man is found shot to death in his Hacienda Heights home.... Divers in Long Beach call off the search for a possible drowning victim.... A Cypress man believed to be selling steroids is arrested.... Three 14-year-old boys have been charged as adults in a suspected gang killing.... Two men are arrested in a bank robbery in Covina.... A suspect in a theft investigation is detained at the home of the mayor of Pico Rivera.... A Marine charged with murder in Santa Ana makes bail, then gets arrested again on an unrelated charge.... The FBI is looking for a group of armed bank
robbers known as the "Boricuas Bandits" in a
series of holdups in Upland, Rialto and Walnut... About 50 firefighters put out a 2-acre grass fire in Ojai....
We at the LAT counted 14 homicides in L.A. County last weekend; the LAPD, held to different boundaries (city rather than county) came up with with 10. They also came up with this bland thicket of language posted on the LAPD Blog to explain just what is going on here:
"...as trends migrate and evolve throughout the City, we have an obligation to move resources to address crime ... we should not panic..."
And:
"There have been no connections or trends developing that can be inferred as a result of this spike in the number of homicides."
The Board of Supervisors selectedSandra Hutchens, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department division chief, to lead the law enforcement agency still reeling from the resignation of Sheriff Michael S. Carona after he was charged with corruption. The board picked Hutchens over Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters.
Three supervisors voted for Hutchens, while two voted for Walters.
Times staff is gathering more details on the decision.
The number of people killed in L.A. County this weekend is up to 14, with at least 10 of those in LAPD jurisdiction. Ruben Vives has details in our fine -- and heartbreaking -- blog, The Homicide Report. Not a record, but way more than the two or three per day we've come to think of as the average for sunny SoCal.
The slaying in January of a West Covina woman generated national headlines because her assailant was her estranged husband, who just weeks before had been convicted of kidnapping her. Today, prosecutors made a stunning admission: that errors by the D.A.'s office contributed to her death. Andrew Blankstein has details:
Los Angeles County prosecutors acknowledged today that miscommunications, errors in judgment and office policy violations contributed to the slaying of a West Covina woman killed by her estranged husband two weeks after he was sentenced to jail for threatening her with a stun gun.
A video camera captures a fatal hit-and-run in East LA.... A pit bull attacks an infant in Pacoima.... A father and son from Redlands are in custody on suspicion of child molestation.... County supes want a broader investigation into the Universal Studios fire.... The L.A. County Sheriff is investigating four cases of “inappropriate contact” involving staff and students in Santa Clarita.... A woman driving the wrong way on Interstate 40 near Ludlow was killed after running into two trucks.... Authorities have charged a Santa Ana mother with murdering her four-year-old son.... A 3.1 earthquake rattled Idyllwild.... A Metro bus hits a pedestrian in downtown LA.... It's jail time for a Gardena man who secretly videotaped a co-worker while she used the bathroom.... L.A. sheriffs raid 108 homes, find drugs and guns, make 14 arrests.... Suspected copper thieves arrested in Lake Forest.... And five endangered condors are sick from lead poisoning just weeks before a statewide ban on lead in bullets kicks in.
