LAPD Officers Lauded for Heroic Acts: Saving Lives, Sheltering Families, and Building Community Trust

This week witnessed the commendation of officers from the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division for their exceptional service beyond the call of duty. Their outstanding actions, including life-saving measures during a freeway incident, pivotal assistance to a homeless family in severe need, and safeguarding nuns amidst a wildfire emergency.

Westside Current

Suspect Shoots At LAPD Officers With BB Gun

The Los Angeles Police Department released security camera footage on Thursday of officers exchanging gunfire with a man shooting at them with a BB gun. It all happened on Feb. 20 when someone accused 42-year-old Anthony Franks of threatening his neighbor with a gun in his Skid Row apartment building. The 18-second video, released on the agency's YouTube channel, showed Franks opening the door of his apartment shortly before shooting off a few .50 caliber rubber balls at officers behind a nearby wall. An officer, just barely in view of the camera, returns fire, striking the door several times but not hitting the suspect. After the exchange, Franks ran back into his apartment kicking off a brief standoff. Eventually, officers called him and convinced him to surrender. Police recovered the BB gun, which they classified as a "projective launcher," and a jar of .50 caliber rubber balls at his home. The LAPD also found a 9mm handgun at his apartment. No one was injured in this incident. 

CBS 2

Suspect Pleads Not Guilty To Murder, Torture Of Model Found Stuffed Inside Refrigerator In DTLA

A 41-year-old man has been charged with murder and torture in the September killing of a model in her downtown Los Angeles apartment, officials said. Maleesa Mooney was found in her high-rise apartment stuffed inside a refrigerator, severely beaten, bound and gagged, authorities said. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced charges Thursday against a Minnesota man in the torture and killing of Mooney. Magnus Daniel Humphrey was allegedly staying at her downtown Los Angeles apartment last year. "Ms. Mooney opened her home to this individual with trust, but was repaid with torture and murder," said Gascón. "The heinous disregard for Ms. Mooney’s life will not go unpunished." Mooney was last seen alive Sept. 6 on surveillance video at her apartment complex. Surveillance video from the apartment building shows an unidentified male using her key FOB to use the building's elevator, then carrying plastic bags to her apartment, police said. Police went to her apartment on Sept. 12 in response to a call from her mother requesting a welfare check. When police responded to her apartment in the 200 block of South Figueroa Street, they found Mooney's body "wedged inside the refrigerator," with blood on the floor outside of it, according to the autopsy report.

FOX 11

Man Dies After Being Pepper Sprayed During Altercation On Metro Bus In Koreatown

A man is dead after some sort of fight on a Metro bus in Koreatown during which he was pepper sprayed, prompting an investigation. The incident happened around 10:45 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of Western Avenue and Olympic Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Details were limited but police said some kind of altercation broke out on the bus and that's when the suspect, described as a man in his 30s, used pepper spray on the victim. The suspect took off and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. It's not clear if the suspect and victim knew each other, and how many other people were on the bus at the time. Pepper spray is known as a non-lethal form of defense. A detective at the scene told Eyewitness News the medical examiner will be able to answer questions as to how exactly the victim died. 

ABC 7

Man Wounded In Westlake Shooting

A man was hospitalized after he was shot in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles early Friday morning. The man, whose identity has not been released, reported being shot at about 3:10 a.m. near 6th Street and Union Avenue, according to Officer Miller of the Los Angeles Police Department. Officers confirmed that he sustained a gunshot wound, and he was taken by ambulance to a local hospital in stable condition. The vehicle used by the suspected shooter is an older gray Honda Civic, police said.

KTLA 5

LASD Seeks Public's Help Finding West Hollywood Assault Suspect

Authorities sought the public's assistance Thursday in locating a second suspect connected with an assault in West Hollywood. Deputies responded to the 7300 block of Santa Monica Boulevard around 1:20 a.m. Feb. 15 on a report of an assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The assault stemmed from an argument between the victim and two male suspects, sheriff's officials said. "West Hollywood Station deputies located one suspect and arrested them for the assault," according to a sheriff's department statement. "The second suspect remains outstanding and has yet to be identified." Sheriff's officials described the suspect as a 5-foot-10-inch man in his 30s or 40s weighing 190 pounds. The name of the first suspect was not released. Anyone with information regarding the assault was urged to contact Detective J. Morales at 310-358-4058 or [email protected]. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or visit p3tips.com.

NBC 4

Juvenile Charged In LA County Shooting Spree That Left 4 Dead; 2 More Deaths Linked To Spree

A 17-year-old boy was charged with murder and other counts stemming from a southeastern Los Angeles County shooting spree that left four people dead, while one of the other defendants in the case was charged along with another man of two additional killings, prosecutors announced Thursday. The teen was charged in juvenile court with four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in connection with the two-day killing spree that occurred Feb. 11-12. In court Wednesday, the juvenile denied the criminal petition -- the juvenile court equivalent of a not-guilty plea. Gary Garcia Jr., 42, and Timberland Wayne McKneely, 20, were previously charged with the same counts in connection with the shootings, which killed three men and a 14-year-old boy. They are scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 29 in a Norwalk courtroom on the charges, which include the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and shooting from a motor vehicle causing death. Prosecutors announced Thursday that McKneely has also been charged along with 18-year-old Joseivan Mendoza with the killings of two other men, aged 30 and 28, in Cudahy and an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County on Nov. 24, 2023. Specific details of those shootings were not immediately available.

ABC 7

SFPD Seized 150 Pounds Of Fentanyl, Arrested Over 760 Suspected Dealers In Past 9 Months

The San Francisco Police Department arrested over 760 people for narcotics sales in the past nine months, according to stats put out by the department Wednesday. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, providing an update on ongoing joint efforts to shut down open-air drug markets in the Tenderloin and SoMa, SFPD said it had arrested 767 suspected drug dealers. In addition, SFPD said it had arrested 1,051 people for narcotics use in that same time period. Another 604 people had been arrested on warrants and other matters as part of the same operation. SFPD also said it had seized 139 kilograms of narcotics in the past nine months. About half of the narcotics seized, 71.8 kilograms — about 150 pounds — was fentanyl SFPD said. San Francisco launched a joint effort to crack down on open-air drug markets last year with SFPD partnering with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, the California Highway Patrol and other agencies to try and clampdown on public dealing and fentanyl use. 

KRON 4

Suspect Shoots, Kills Mississippi K-9 Before Fatal OIS

A K-9 officer has been killed in a police shootout with a suspect who was also killed, Action News 5 reported. The Feb. 21 incident occurred when Desoto County Sheriff’s Office deputies performed a PIT maneuver during a vehicle pursuit. The successful maneuver stopped fleeing suspect Jamarcus Brown, 38. The sheriff’s office has not released details indicating what led to the pursuit, according to the report. Once the vehicle had been stopped, deputies released K-9 Luca. Brown shot the K-9, according to the report, leading deputies to return fire. Brown was pronounced dead at the scene. K-9 Luca was transported to a veterinary hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds, according to the report. No deputies were seriously injured in the incident.

PoliceOne

U.K. Police Find $568 Million Of Cocaine Hidden In Bananas, Shattering Drug-Seizure Record

British authorities on Friday said they had found more than 12,500 pounds of cocaine hidden in a shipment of bananas, shattering the record for the biggest single seizure of hard drugs in the country. The National Crime Agency said 5.7 tons of cocaine were found in a container of bananas at the port of Southampton on England's south coast on Feb. 8. The haul of drugs had an estimated street value of $568 million, the agency said. Before the massive bust, the previous largest seizures of drugs in the U.K. was a 3.7-ton haul of cocaine found in Southampton two years ago, and before that, 3.2 tons discovered on a tug boat in Scotland in 2015, the agency said. The packages of cocaine found this month were concealed in a cargo of bananas which had been transported from South America, and officials believe the drugs were headed to Hamburg, Germany, "for onward delivery." "This record-breaking seizure will represent a huge hit to the international organized crime cartels involved, denying them massive profits," NCA Director Chris Farrimond said in a statement. "While the destination for the consignment was continental Europe in this case, I have no doubt that a significant proportion would have ended up back here in the U.K., being peddled by U.K. criminal gangs."

CBS 2

Fire Crews Extinguish Duplex Fire In Boyle Heights

A fire erupted at a unit in a two-story duplex in Boyle Heights Thursday evening with no reported injuries. Firefighters arrived at the 3100 block of East Ganahl Street around 7:25 p.m. Thursday to a report regarding a structure fire burning on the top floor, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey. “Forty-three LAFD firefighters, with the support of LACoFD, took just 19 minutes to access, confine, and extinguish flames in one upstairs unit of a two-story residential duplex,” Humphrey said, referring to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Firefighters assessed two puppies who were rescued from the burning unit. The conditions of the puppies remain unknown. What may have sparked the fire was unclear, and the cause remains under investigation.

MyNewsLA

CA Firefighters Compete To Develop New Technology To Stop Wildfires

Firefighters across California are participating in a four-year competition to invent new technologies to fight fires and put an end to destructive wildfires. The competition XPRIZE Wildfire incentivizes the private sector to help develop new ways to detect wildfires before they get too big and cause damage to ecosystems. "Fires aren't getting any smaller," said Chief Brian Fennessy with the Orange County Fire Authority. "They're not spreading any slower, and we have to look at the private sector to help fight them." According to XPRIZE, extreme wildfire events burn at a "higher intensity" and account for 80% of total associated fire-damages, adding to the growing global greenhouse gas emissions. "Firefighters can only do so much with the resources that they have," said San Bernardino County Fire Chief Dan Munsey. "We can spend millions of dollars more on fire engines, helicopters, fire trucks, and we're only going to make a limited difference." More than 200 teams signed up for the XPRIZE Wildfire competition, and $11 million in prizes will be paid out over four years. There are two competition tracks in which firefighting teams will compete, one focused on the detection and characterization of the fire. The other track will look to find response solutions and suppression materials.

NBC 4

About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 8,900 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.