Crime & Courts

The California Narcotic Officers' Association has named a Hawthorne police lieutenant its "narc" of the year.

Jim Royer will receive the organization's Alfred E. Stewart Memorial Award naming him the CNOA's "Narcotic Officer of the Year."

"Royer has been dedicated to narcotics crimes in the city of Hawthorne and surrounding areas, and has a long standing record of successfully enforcing narcotics laws and working cooperatively with other departments at the local, state and federal level," the organization said.

The CNOA names one police officer and one prosecutor each year as its recipients of the Stewart award.

The prosecutor is Michael Lowe, an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles. Lowe has prosecuted narcotics cases since he joined the office in 1998.

CNOA is a non-profit association that provides training in the narcotics enforcement field for law enforcement professionals. 

The man who was killed when he stumbled and fell under a Torrance Transit bus was identified Friday as Leonard Moreno Jr., 41, of Lakewood.

Moreno died about 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the accident on Torrance Boulevard at Crenshaw Boulevard, coroner's officials said.

Witnesses told firefighters that Moreno exited the westbound bus, walked into a pole or some other object and stumbled back ward into the street into the traffic lane. The bus rolled over him.

Torrance police traffic investigators weren't available today.

Coroner's officials will perform an autopsy that will include tests to see if Moreno had drugs or alcohol in his system.

Jail and court records show Moreno was arrested six times in Carson and once in Redondo Beach since August. Records show some of those cases involve public intoxication and jail time.

A longer story on this  will appear later at dailybreeze.com and in Saturday's Daily Breeze.

A federal jury found Jorge Teixeira not guilty of the six sexual assault charges against him. A Princess Cruises Coral Princess passenger claimed he assaulted her in a secluded dining room in March.

This is one of those cases that things turned out to not be what they seemed...

Check out my story later at dailybreeze.com for the details.

Previously: Cruise ship sexual assault statements

 

Detectives today released a photograph of a parolee who escaped after allegedly trying to run down a police officer with her car as he attempted to arrest her.

Dawn Macksoud, 37, who crashed into a police car and struck a house, was last seen in Venice, where she sought medical treatment for an injured ankle, and cuts to her face and arms, Manhattan Beach police Detective Michael Rosenberger said.

Macksoud fled to a Malibu beach Nov. 11 when officers arrested her husband, Phillip, in connection with a string of identity theft crimes in Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes Estates.

Dawn Macksoud, who is a parolee, could face charges of assault on a police officer and evading arrest, in addition to identity theft.

She uses numerous aliases including "Marie Bello," and is known to frequent the South Bay, Long Beach and Compton.

She is white, 5 feet tall and 145 pounds.

Anyone with information about Dawn Macksoud's whereabouts is asked to contact Rosenberger at 310-802-5127 or the Lost Hills sheriff's station at 818-878-1808.

Got an Glock or AK-47 hanging around your house, and you just don't want it anymore? The Compton Sheriff's Department might have the answer you've been waiting for. From City News Service:

A "Guns for Gifts" exchange will be held in Compton Dec. 5-6.
A $100 gift card from Best Buy, Ralphs or Target will be given for each gun surrendered, Sgt. Carmichael Octave of the sheriff's Compton Station said.
The biggest challenge to the program is to ensure residents understand "this is a completely anonymous process, where we will ask no questions of the person surrendering the firearm," Octave said.
The gun exchange will be conducted in the Ralphs parking lot at 280 E. Compton Blvd.

A man stumbled after getting off a Torrance Transit bus Thursday and was killed when he fell under its wheels, firefighters said.

Firefighters called the 4:30 p.m. death at Torrance and Crenshaw Boulevard the result of a freak accident.

Torrance fire Capt. Steve Deuel said witnesses said the man got off the westbound bus and walked into a pole or some other object on the sidewalk.

He stumbled backward as the bus was departing and fell into the traffic lane under its wheels.
The driver detected what had happened and stopped.

Firefighters pronounced the man dead at the scene. He was believed to be about 40 years old.

Torrance police traffic detectives were investigating the crash. Torrance Boulevard was closed for the investigation and for the coroner to arrive.

Here's the update on the burglar in Redondo Beach, according to police Sgt. Phil Keenan:

A business owner found the man inside his locked building in the 2000 block of Manhattan Beach Boulevard about 2 p.m. He chased the man out and called the police.

The man ran into the neighborhood between Aviation Boulevard and Warfield Avenue when police officers arrived.

Seventeen police officers from Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach surrounded the area adn searched with aid of police dogs and a Los Angeles police helicopter.

About 2:40 p.m., the man emerged and was spotted on Manhattan Beach Boulevard. He had slightly changed his clothes.

Officers arrested him on suspicion of burglary.

They are now working to figure out what his name is.

I'm pretty sure that's what this no-nonsense cop would say, since he seems just so intent on getting the job done - despite a fuzzy, sharp-clawed distraction. This one is courtesy of our pals over the South Bay Pets blog.

If you wondered what the helicopter was doing flying over Manhattan Beach and Aviation boulevards this afternoon, police were looking for a burglar.

They caught him.

I'll have more info in a little bit when more becomes available.

Just got word that a federal judge declared a mistrial in the insurance fraud case against Lawrence Saks, a former plastic surgeon who practiced in Torrance and San Pedro. No details yet, but check later for a story on dailybreeze.com.