Student Stabbed Outside Montecito Heights Charter School

A 15-year-old student was stabbed outside a Montecito Heights School Thursday morning, officials said. The incident occurred around 11:30 a.m. in the 200 block of East Avenue 33, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Responding Los Angeles police officers found the victim at the scene, which is near charter school Los Angeles Leadership Academy. It is unclear what led to the stabbing, but the student was taken to a hospital in unknown condition after the attack. No other injuries were reported during the incident and there was no known threat to the school, an office clerk on campus told KTLA. Additionally, the school was not placed on lockdown. No further details about the incident were released Thursday.

KTLA 5

LA Pharmacies Hit By Smash-and-Grab Robbers

The Los Angeles Police Department Thursday was investigating multiple pharmacy burglaries in the San Fernando Valley. One of the three burglaries took place around 2:45 a.m. Thursday at a pharmacy in the 13000 block of Van Nuys Boulevard in Pacoima, police said. FOX 11 obtained videos of the smash-and-grab robbery. Two additional burglaries were reported Wednesday night in Northridge and Valley Village. As of Thursday night, no arrests have been announced in the series of pharmacy burglaries. It is unknown if the burglaries are connected. 

FOX 11

Former USC Gynecologist In Sex Abuse Cases Found Dead In Los Angeles Home

George Tyndall, a former longtime USC campus gynecologist who was awaiting trial on sex-related charges involving 16 patients who accused him of inappropriate behavior under the guise of medical exams, was found dead in his Los Angeles home, one of his attorneys said today. Attorney Leonard Levine told the Los Angeles Times a close friend of Tyndall went to his condo when she was unable to reach him, then found him unresponsive inside. In August, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler found sufficient evidence to require Tyndall to stand trial on 18 felony counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person—charges that allege the women were "unconscious of the nature of the act'' and that it served "no professional purpose"—along with nine felony counts of sexual battery by fraud. The criminal complaint alleged that the crimes occurred between 2009 and 2016. The women had gone to USC's student health center for annual examinations or other treatment while Tyndall was working there. Eight charges involving five other women were dismissed earlier because four of them opted not to proceed and one could not be contacted.

NBC 4

Former LA County Official Mark Ridley-Thomas Granted Bail While Appealing Corruption Conviction

Former Los Angeles County elected official Mark Ridley-Thomas will remain free while he appeals his conviction on federal corruption charges, according to court documents obtained Friday. U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who presided over Ridley-Thomas' 16-day criminal trial in March, approved Ridley-Thomas' motion for bail pending appeal in a two-page order late Thursday. After he was found guilty of seven felony counts -- bribery, conspiracy, four counts of honest services wire fraud, and one count of honest services mail fraud -- Ridley-Thomas was sentenced in August to three years and six months in federal prison with a surrender date of Nov. 13. Defense attorneys argued in its motion for bail this week that Ridley- Thomas met the criteria for being allowed to stay out of prison during appeals, and the prosecution did not object in a stipulation filed Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles federal court.

Westside Current

Man Fatally Shot In South Los Angeles

A man was fatally shot Friday in South Los Angeles, east of Inglewood and sheriff’s homicide detectives are investigating the shooting. Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s South Los Angeles Division were called at 2:14 a.m. to the 1500 block of West 105th Street, west of Western Avenue regarding a shots fired call. Upon their arrival, they found the victim in the middle of the street with gunshot wounds, said homicide Lt. Hugo Reynaga. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. There was no suspect description. Anyone with information about this shooting was asked to call the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Callers who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 800222-8477 or tips can be sent to lacrimestoppers.org.

MyNewsLA

$25K Reward Offered In Inglewood Father's Hit-and-Run Death

Nearly three years after his hit-and-run death, police are offering a $25,000 reward to find the people who killed an Inglewood father of five. José Gálvez Pineda, 41, died Dec. 6, 2020, when two speeding vehicles struck him as he tried to make a turn on his motorcycle to enter his home on the 2700 block of 108th Street. “I never imagined that right here in front is where the accident would happen. It was a terrible day. It was a bitter Christmas, a bitter Christmas,” said Maria Pineda, the victim’s mother. The suspect vehicles were a tan Tahoe and a black Cadillac Escalade, Inglewood Police Department spokeswoman Darlyn Quirarte said. According to a press release, witnesses said “one of the vehicles momentarily halted, with the driver rolling down their window to assess the situation,” but they saw Pineda was “incapacitated and in desperate need of help,” they quickly left, leaving Pineda on the ground, just steps away from his mother’s kitchen window. The case had gone cold, but thanks to efforts by Moisés Castillo, a retired detective, it was reopened.

NBC 4

LA County Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Groping Sleeping Woman On Flight

A federal judge sentenced a 50-year-old Diamond Bar man to nearly two years in prison for groping a sleeping woman during a flight. The groping happened on Feb. 17, 2020, during a flight from Cleveland to Los Angeles. According to the Department of Justice, Mohammad Jawad Ansari sat in the tenth-row window seat next to the victim in the middle seat. The woman, who was wearing a dress, fell asleep shortly after takeoff. Mid-flight, Ansari placed his left hand on the victim's right knee and moved up to her inner thigh without the victim's consent. The woman woke up, pushed Ansari's hand away, and left her seat. After the woman informed the flight crew, attendants watched over Ansari for the rest of the flight. They believed he pretended to sleep for the remainder of the trip. Prosecutors said a passenger sitting in the aisle seat next to the victim witnessed Ansari's hand touching the woman's inner thigh. According to the Department of Justice, a jury found Mohammad Jawad Ansari of one count of abusive sexual contact on May 9. He must register as a sex offender and pay over $40,000 in fines and restitution. 

CBS 2

Tesla Driver Seen In Road-Rage Attacks Across LA County Transferred To Prison To Start 5-Year Term

A Tesla driver involved in a series of road rage incidents across Los Angeles County is now in prison. Nathaniel Radimak was transferred to prison this week after being sentenced last month to five years behind bars. He was initially being held in county jail. His road-rage rampage last year resulted in convictions on several felony counts including criminal threats, vandalism, assault and elder abuse. Multiple videos were made public showing him attacking other motorists with little provocation, on several occasions using a metal pipe to batter their vehicles. 

ABC 7

A Troubling Trend In California: More Violent Crimes Are Being Committed With Guns Even As Restrictions Tighten

Though overall crime in California is down from historic peaks, data from the state Department of Justice’s Criminal Justice Statistics Center suggest violent crime has been on the rise since 2014. And experts are now noting another troubling trend: the increased use of firearms in homicides and aggravated assaults. A spate of mass shootings, including killings this year at a dance hall in Monterey Park, a mushroom farm in Half Moon Bay and a Trabuco Canyon bar, highlight the problem. “It is particularly in the last few years that we have seen an increase in violent crime involving firearms,” said Magnus Lofstrom, policy director of criminal justice and a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. In 2020, homicides using firearms increased by 40.6% and assaults with firearms went up by 29% from the previous year, according to a Times analysis of Department of Justice data. The trend continued in 2021, with each category of crimes increasing 8% before dropping off by about as much in 2022, the most recent year for which data were available. But the rate for 2022 remains noticeably higher than pre-pandemic figures. Guns were used in 71.2% of homicides and 21.8% of assaults in 2022, compared with 68% and 16.9%, respectively, in 2019.

Los Angeles Times

3 Philly Officers Shot While Responding To Domestic Dispute Over Video Game Volume

Three Philadelphia police officers were shot Wednesday evening in the city’s Rhawnhurst section responding to a report of a domestic shooting, police said. The suspected shooter was dead after officers returned fire, police said. Another man was found shot inside a home on the 7500 block of Whitaker Avenue, from where the suspect allegedly fired at police. Shortly before 7:10 p.m., police responded to a call from a 12-year-old saying his father had just shot his uncle, police said. A few minutes later as police arrived to investigate, an officer reported that shots were fired from the house and that he had been shot, police said. Two officers were shot in the leg and one in the hand, police said. All three were transported to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, where they were reported to be in stable condition. A woman and child exited the house apparently uninjured, police said. Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford said there reportedly was a dispute inside the house over a video game possibly being played too loudly, then one man shot the other.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Oklahoma Deputy Shot In Gunfight After Failed Traffic Stop; Suspect Remains At Large

A bystander was killed and a deputy was wounded in a shooting that occurred when a suspect failed to yield to the deputy's traffic stop, KFOR reported. Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Sean Steadman tried to conduct a traffic stop on a Volkswagen Jetta when the driver, identified as Kameron Jenkins, refused to stop. Steadman conducted a tactical vehicle intervention, successfully bringing the car to a stop, according to the report. After the vehicle was stopped, Steadman and Jenkins exchanged gunfire. During the altercation, a passing dump truck driver’s passenger, Gwaun Frierson, was shot and killed. Steadman was shot in the chin and transported to a hospital, where he is expected to make a full recovery. Jenkins escaped the altercation and is still at large. According to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Jenkins is currently on probation for a number of violent crimes, including assault and battery with a deadly weapon and maiming, dating back to 2016, the report states. He was released from prison in March 2023 for another maiming charge dating back to 2019.

PoliceOne

L.A. Council Committee Approves Recommendations For Redistricting Reform

A Los Angeles City Council committee Thursday unanimously approved a set of recommendations to create an Independent Redistricting Commission that would redraw the boundaries of council districts for future elections. But the Ad Hoc Committee on City Governance Reform left for another day plans to possibly expand the council into more, and smaller, districts. The recommended City Charter amendment regarding the Independent Redistricting Commission that was OK’d Thursday will be submitted to the full council in a month and would, upon approval there, be placed on the November 2024 ballot for city voters to ultimately decide. The matter passed 6-0, with Councilman Bob Blumenfield absent.“We are going to give the voters exactly what they have rightfully demanded, a redistricting process in which the council will play no part,” Council President Paul Krekorian, who chairs the ad hoc committee, said in a statement.

MyNewsLA

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.