Rapper 'Too Short' arrested for alleged DUI, drugs in Hollywood

Rapper "Too Short" was arrested early Wednesday in Hollywood on suspicion of drunken driving and drug possession, Los Angeles police said.

The 46-year-old, born Todd Anthony Shaw, was taken into custody shortly after 3 a.m. near Hollywood Boulevard and Las Palmas Avenue, said Los Angeles police Officer Cleon Joseph. Details about the arrest were sparse, but Joseph said the rapper briefly tried to run from police before he was apprehended.

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Oakland, Too Short is considered one of the pioneers of West Coast hip hop, with hits including "The Ghetto," "Burn Rubber" and "Blow the Whistle."

In 2009, he was arrested twice on suspicion of DUI and other charges in Las Vegas. A year later, he was arrested on misdemeanor battery charges after a performance at an Idaho nightclub.

Last month, rumors circulated that Too Short was involved in a shooting and car crash on the Las Vegas Strip that left Oakland rapper Kenny Clutch and two others dead. But a message on Too Short's Facebook page said he "no knowledge or connection to this incident."

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— Kate Mather

Follow Kate Mather on Twitter or Google+.

Photo: Rapper Too Short. Credit: KTLA-TV

Body found on 101 Freeway ramp in Cahuenga Pass; SigAlert issued

A SigAlert was issued Tuesday morning for the southbound 101 Freeway in the Cahuenga Pass as police investigated a body found on an offramp.

Details were still developing as officers remained on the scene, but a sergeant at the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Station said preliminary information indicated the death was caused by an accidental fall or suicide.

The California Highway Patrol closed the Cahuenga Boulevard offramp about 5 a.m. It was not known when the roadway would reopen.

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— Kate Mather

Follow Kate Mather on Twitter or Google+.

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.

Wacky weather day in L.A.: First hail, then rainbows

It started with rain. Then there was hail. Finally L.A.'s wacky weather day ended with rainbows that once again had people snapping photos.

Hail was reported in the Westside, Hollywood and parts of the San Fernando Valley.

Rich Thompson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, said scattered showers were expected into the evening, along with a chance of thunderstorms.

The storm brought snow to higher elevations, with reports of accumulations between 3,000 and 3,500 feet, Thompson said. A winter storm warning was in effect for mountain areas until 10 p.m.; the Antelope Valley was under a winter weather advisory until noon.

Saturday morning could bring some clouds and a slight chance of showers, Thompson said, but after that, warm weather was on the way. Temperatures in the 70s were expected starting Sunday, peaking around 80 degrees Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles.

Here are some images aggregated from social media sites: --Kate Mather and Shelby Grad

City Beat: Vito Vincent the cat heads from Hollywood to Broadway

Remember Vito Vincent, the tabby cat who came out west to try to make his way in Hollywood?

I wrote about his quest for acting gigs in a front-page story last March.

In reporting the story, I dined with Vito Vincent and his owner, Michael LeCrichia, at an outdoor cafe at the Grove -- and throughout the meal, as music played and hundreds of people passed by, the cat sat perfectly calmly all by himself in a chair.

At the Grove, he moved with assurance on a leash, walking in and out of stores -- and in the process turning so many heads, he even attracted his own paparazzo.

The story -- and accompanying video -- of the supremely calm cat got Vito Vincent a lot of attention, but, alas, no TV or movie offers. So he and LeCrichia eventually headed back home to the East Coast.

Last year, Vito Vincent nabbed a campaign for an online card company as well as a Target ad. (You might see him soon on billboards, says LeCrichia. Look for the cat in the yellow slicker.)

This year, he got his first big break -- on Broadway.

Vito Vincent has just been chosen to play Cat in a new production of "Breakfast at Tiffany's," starring Emilia Clarke (of "Game of Thrones" fame) and now in previews at the Cort Theatre.

L.A. Votes: Dismal turnout, mayoral runoff, and failed sales tax

This post has been corrected. See below for details.

After months of buildup and millions of dollars spent on a blizzard of television ads and mailers, Los Angeles voters went to the polls Tuesday and selected Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel to advance to a mayoral runoff. The long-time City Hall hands don’t have any plans to let up the day after the primary. They will be busy on the campaign trail on Wednesday, with Greuel expected to pick up the endorsement of another union representing city workers.

Rivals Jan Perry and Kevin James did not offer their concessions Tuesday night. James, who has never held elected office, received a hair more support than Perry, a three-term  Los Angeles councilwoman, in the final tally. A key question going forward will be whether they endorse Garcetti or Greuel, because their supporters could propel one of the finalists to victory.

Turnout in the city races was dismal at 16% in a contested mayoral primary. That’s lower than four years ago, when an incumbent was running for reelection. Political experts have speculated that the distinct lack of enthusiasm may have been caused by voter fatigue after a bruising and long presidential contest, coupled with a lack of excitement about the mayoral field. 

RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election

The voters who turned out overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to raise the city’s sales tax by a half-cent to one of the highest in the state. While all the major mayoral candidates opposed the measure, its failure creates a new headache for the next mayor of the city, which will face budget deficits projected at $216 million a year and more.

The city school board races saw an inordinate amount of outside spending, with two camps pouring millions of dollars into the contests. One side is funded by supporters of the policies advocated by L.A. Unified Supt. John Deasy and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa;  New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote a $1 million check for that camp. The other side has the support of teachers unions. The result is a mixed bag for both sides, with board president Monica Garcia, a Deasy supporter, and Steve Zimmer, a union-backed candidate, both winning reelection.

Sacramento veterans lead in City Council races, and the city attorney and controller are also headed for a runoff.

INTERACTIVE MAP: How your neighborhood voted

Vote-counting took hours, but the greatest drama of the day took place in the morning. A morning shooting occurred outside a polling place in Watts, injuring a poll worker and halting voting for 30 minutes. The 35-year-old victim’s injuries were not life threatening. Police described the incident as a possible “love triangle” and are seeking a suspect.

Columnist Steve Lopez checked in on Election Day with the voters he has been in periodic touch with since January. They voted, despite their frustration with the field and with City Hall. “No one is turning cartwheels,” Lopez wrote.

[For the Record, 9:56 a.m. March 6: An earlier version of this online post gave the wrong name for  L.A. Unified School District Supt. John Deasy.]

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-- Seema Mehta

Comments, questions or tips on city elections? Tweet me at @LATSeema 

Photo: Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel speak to supporters during election night gatherings. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times; Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

L.A. mayor’s race live: Garcetti, Greuel hold on to their lead

10:39 p.m.

As election results  in the L.A. mayor’s race trickled in Tuesday night, Controller Wendy Greuel and Councilman Eric Garcetti continued to lead the pack in early returns.

Along with a substantial chunk of mail-in ballots, city elections officials have tallied votes from 2.5% of precincts in the city – just a sliver of the ballots likely to be cast.

Opinion polls cast Garcetti and Greuel as the front-runners in the race which, by all indications, will probably be decided in a May runoff between the top-two finishers.

LIVE RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election

Councilwoman Jan Perry captured enough votes in the early returns to hold onto third place, with attorney Kevin James, the only Republican in the race, slightly behind her.

In the race for city attorney, former Assemblyman Mike Feuer and incumbent Carmen Trutanich were locked in a tight contest. City Councilman Dennis Zine was leading in the race for city controller.

A measure to add a half-cent to the city’s sales tax continued to trail in early returns. The measure, Proposition A, would bring sales taxes in Los Angeles to 9.5%, one of the highest rates in the state, and raise $200 million a year for the city treasury.

9:37 p.m.

With more than 111,000 mail-in ballots tallied in Tuesday’s Los Angeles city election, Councilman Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel pulled out to early leads in the race for mayor--with the two running virtually neck-and-neck.

Councilwoman Jan Perry trailed in third place, according to the early returns.

Still, it was far too early in the vote count for any lead to be secure. Los Angeles has just over 1.8 million registered voters.

LIVE RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election

Before the polls opened Tuesday, the city clerk’s office had received 148,846 mail-in ballots from voters in the city, or 8.2% of the total number of registered voters. More voters voted by mail than in the first round of either the 2001 or 2005 city elections, but there are also many more residents who received mail ballots this year than in those elections.

Of the total 663,086 mail-in ballots issued this year, 22.4% had been returned by the start of election day. In 2001 and 2005, a much higher percentage of ballots — about half — had been returned by election day. But the city sent out only about 200,000 mail ballots in each of those elections.

In the race for city attorney, former Assemblyman Mike Feuer was leading incumbent Carmen Trutanich. City Councilman Dennis Zine was leading in the race for city controller.

--Phil Willon and James Rainey

7:08 p.m.

The city of Los Angeles may be in the grips of its most serious and prolonged financial crisis in memory, but voters didn't clamor to the polls Tuesday to decide who should fix the mess.

The election had the mayor’s office, a majority of City Council seats and a half-cent sales tax on the line, but Angelenos only trickled to voting booths -- which closed at 8 p.m.

The city clerk’s office said it expected to post its first returns -- from mail-in ballots received by last Saturday -- a half hour after voting ended.  The timing of final results remains unpredictable because many of the contests -- particularly the half-cent sales tax, Measure A -- are expected to be close.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Los Angeles school board race

Election officials reported no widespread irregularities, although one polling place in Watts closed temporarily in the morning after the shooting of a poll worker. And more than one voting location in the north San Fernando Valley also had to contend with a power outage after nightfall.

Police called the shooting of the 35-year-old poll worker part of a domestic dispute. A hospital treated the worker for injuries that were not life-threatening and the voting place reopened a half-hour later in a mobile polling station next to the auditorium at 92nd Street Elementary School.

The power outage shut down a polling place on Del Sur Street in Pacoima, according to Felipe Fuentes, a council candidate in District 7. Fuentes said he used the light from his mobile phone to help voters find their names on the rolls so they could receive their ballots.

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.'s race for mayor

Fewer than 18% of the city’s registered voters cast ballots in the 2009 mayoral election featuring incumbent Antonio Villaraigosa and nine little-known, underfunded challengers. Villaraigoa won a second term outright in the primary, capturing enough of the vote to make a runoff unnecessary.

Thirty-four percent voted four years earlier in the runoff that made Villaraigosa the first Latino mayor in the city’s modern history.

Turnout for the first round of Los Angeles municipal elections is typically low, though most candidates said they hoped the closely contested mayoral race -- being led in recent polls by Councilman Eric
Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel -- would inspire more interest.

PHOTOS: Los Angeles voters go to the polls

After voting Tuesday morning near his Silver Lake home, Garcetti, 42, said he hoped people would come out.

L.A. mayor election: Garcetti, Greuel battle for Hollywood

The dance floor at the Avalon was still mostly empty when the polls closed Tuesday, with most guests not expected to arrive at Eric Garcetti’s election-night party until a little later in the night.

Garcetti’s decision to hold his party at the historic nightclub in the heart of Hollywood is symbolic. The candidate has put Hollywood at the center of his campaign, often touting the neighborhood’s turnaround during the three terms he has represented it on the Los Angeles City Council.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Los Angeles school board race

Garcetti has pledged to bring similar revitalization to other parts of the city. He has also talked a lot about Hollywood the industry. A few days before election day, Garcetti held a news conference at a Hollywood studio to talk about the passage of a measure that will eliminate city fees for new television pilots filming in L.A.

One of his leading opponents, City Controller Wendy Greuel, a former film studio executive, has touted her own plan to help the ailing industry, which has seen production lured elsewhere by tax incentives. The candidates have fought over who would be a better friend to Hollywood while also fighting over the industry’s deep pockets.

LIVE RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election  

A Times analysis of city Ethics Commission records last month found that actors, producers, directors and others in the industry have donated more than $746,000 directly to candidates, with about $462,000 going to Garcetti and $226,000 to Greuel.

The two have also garnered celebrity endorsements, with and Tom Hanks and Eva Longoria and director Steven Spielberg supporting Greuel and actors Jane Fonda, Will Ferrell and Salma Hayak stumping for Garcetti. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel, actress Amy Smart and musician Moby appeared at a fundraiser for Garcetti at the Henry Fonda Theatre last month, but campaign staff said they don’t know if any celebrities are scheduled to show up tonight.

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Hammer-wielding suspects sought in string of Hollywood robberies

Los Angeles police are investigating an overnight robbery spree in which hammer-wielding suspects took wallets, cellphones and a saxophone and attempted to steal a car in four incidents in Hollywood.

Authorities believe at least two men in their late teens or early 20s threatened the victims with hammers and knives—and possibly a Taser, said LAPD Sgt. Mark Ro. No injuries were reported.

The first three incidents were considered "street robberies," with the suspects approaching the victims on foot, Ro said. They were reported at the intersections of Yucca Street and Las Palmas Avenue, Selma Avenue and Schrader Boulevard, and June Street and Lexington Avenue.

Each of the victims was alone, Ro said. The suspects made off with cash, cellphones, wallets and, in the third incident, a saxophone.

The spree ended when the suspects unsuccessfully tried to steal a car at Cahuegna Boulevard and Waring Avenue, Ro said.

Investigators were combing the car for fingerprints and examining area surveillance cameras for video, Ro said.

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L.A. Votes: Candidates face scrutiny, new ads, funding deadline

With one week until Election Day, every move by the mayoral candidates is being closely scrutinized for signs of what they believe is happening among voters below the radar in what is expected to be a  low-turnout election. And no one is being watched more closely at the moment than Jan Perry, who is waging a blistering mail campaign against Wendy Greuel.

Greuel’s recent decision to respond may signal that Perry is making headway in the five-candidate contest. But the aggressive, and some would argue questionable, nature of Perry’s mail campaign is drawing scrutiny as well, with county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky the latest to speak out about the Perry campaign’s tactics.

Perry was also the subject of the latest Times profile in a series  about turning points in the candidates' lives. For the veteran city councilwoman, the decision to attend a Rose Bowl game shifted her life’s trajectory.

L.A. ELECTIONS 2013: Sign up for our email newsletter    

Meanwhile, Eric Garcetti’s ability to make tough decisions faces scrutiny by some who say his desire for compromise can cause problems for the city councilman that would be exacerbated if he was mayor.

The money and ad wars continue in the race.

Better Way L.A., an independent committee backing Republican Kevin James’ bid, received a $200,000 donation that will allow it to continue airing television ads on James’ behalf. The Super PAC had been in jeopardy of running out of money at a crucial time, and James himself had said he would  welcome another infusion of cash from the Texas billionaire who has largely bankrolled the effort. His desires were answered, but by a different Texas billionaire. (Those Texans have a rather notable interest in California, no?)

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.'s race for mayor

In a sign of the importance of the Latino vote in next week’s contest, Garcetti and Emanuel Pleitez took to the Spanish-language airwaves with new ads.

The next reporting deadline for fundraising is Wednesday night, so the candidates are feverishly trying to pump up their dollar figures for the last finance report before Election Day. Michael Reagan, the son of late President Reagan, weighed in with a request for James. Houston Mayor Annise Parker put out a call for Greuel, who has two fundraisers planned today.

Garcetti, meanwhile, sent out an Obama-esque email to supporters with the subject line “Unbelievable,”  railing against special-interest spending in the race and urging voters to pledge their support to him.

INTERACTIVE MAP: How Los Angeles voted

In the city attorney’s race, incumbent Carmen Trutanich and former lawmaker Mike Feuer hammered each other during a radio debate on KCRW-FM (89.9)'s "Which Way, L.A.?" Feuer continued to call Trutanich's tenure a failure and Trutanich derided Feuer's lack of courtroom experience, a message he echoed in a television ad released Monday. All this occurred as the campaign of Greg Smith, a largely self-funded, dark horse candidate, appeared to gain steam with a stream of new endorsements.

Seven days to go.

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-- Seema Mehta

Comments, questions or tips on city elections? Tweet me at @LATSeema 

Photo: Los Angeles mayoral candidates Eric Garcetti, from left, Wendy Greuel, Kevin James, Jan Perry and Emanuel Pleitez appear at a candidate debate at Loyola Marymount University on Feb. 5. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times