July 2008 Archives

A hearing on papparzzi called by Councilman Dennis Zine is a "farce," LAPD Chief William Bratton said this morning, and said he won't be attending and wasting city resources.

"Since Britney started wearing clothes and behaving, Paris is out of town not bothering anyone anymore, thank God, and evidently Lindsey Lohan has gone gay, you don't seem to have an issue," he told Channel 4 KNBC news this morning. "If the ones who attract the paparrazi behave in the first place like we expect of anyone, it solves 90 percent of the problem. The rest we can deal with."

Bratton went on to blast Zine, a fomer LAPD officer, for "grandstanding."

"LAPD has no intention of dealing with this farce," he said.
It appears that he was a morning run or some kind of workout when he spotted the cameras and walked over to "set the record straight." Check out the video.
Bratton has butted heads with Zine before, most recently over Special Order 40. Zine proposed changing the longstanding policy intended to encourage immigrants to report violent crimes, but Bratton firmly opposed changing a single word.

CENTURY CITY -- Police searched today for a man who stabbed a woman to death in the parking structure of a Century City high-rise office building.

Pamela Fayed, 44, had her throat cut in the garage at 1875 Century Park East about 6:35 p.m. Monday, according to police and coroner's spokesman Ed Winter.

Fayed, of Camarillo, was the wife of James Fayed, who operated eBullion and Goldfinger Coin and Bullion, which has an office in Camarillo and is one of the largest gold trading sites on the Internet.

A neighbor and friend of the woman, Mike Nelson, told local media that the couple were in the middle of a bitter divorce and Fayed was afraid of her estranged husband.

dailynews.com

San Fernando Courthouse
• Trial status conference in the case of Kimberly Carter, Northridge woman charged with murder.
• Preliminary hearing setting for Pedro Ortiz, charged with Valley child molestations.

Van Nuys Courthouse
• Preliminary hearing setting for Marquis Dejon Jiles, a man charged with murder in a hit-and-run crash.
• Preliminary hearing setting for Amir David Tamado Nejad, a Woodland Hills man charged with attempted murder.

San Fernando Courthouse
• Preliminary hearing setting for George Miller, a former priest charged with sexual molestation.

San Fernando Courthouse
• Preliminary hearing setting for Robert Ramon Gasca, a Pacoima man charged with shooting four people.

Pasadena Courthouse
• Jury trial in the case of Ezel Ethan Channel, a Nickelodeon employee charged with child molestation.

Antelope Valley Courthouse
• Pretrial conference in the re-trial of Raymond Lee Jennings, charged with murder.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies shot and killed a man last night in Lennox. Sheriff's officials say the shooting occurred shortly before midnight Wednesday, and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. No deputies were hurt. Officials would not yet say what prompted the shooting. Lennox is an unincorporated area, about 10 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Channel 4 news is reporting that the man, tentatively identified as Christian Cortillo, who is between 33 and 35-years-old was not armed, but possibly had been reaching under a seat for something when at least three deputies approached his vehicle.

The deputies were investigating a narcotics dealer who was selling drugs on the street when they saw the suspect sitting in his car. When he reached under the passenger seat, a deputy thought he was reaching for a weapon and fired at least one shot, striking the man in the upper torso.

A stray bullet struck and killed a 9-year-old girl in South Los Angeles Wednesday night.

Two male teens opened fire on a group of people near East 76th and South San Pedro streets around 8:45 p.m., and "a stray bullet struck a girl in the chest," Officer Jason Lee of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section said.

9-years-old ...

dailynews.com

Batman star Christian Bale was arrested Tuesday on allegations of assault, police said. dailynews.com

Criminal Justice Center
• Preliminary hearing in the case of Michael Henschel and Alan Mitchell, Valley businessman and an associate charged in a widespread real estate fraud case.

San Fernando Courthouse
• Trial status conference in in the case of Kimberly Carter, a Northridge woman charged with murder.
• Testimony in the trial of Roberto Mendez Alba and Edwardo Medina, charged with kidnapping for ransom.
• Arraignment for Ernesto Romero, Ritchi Palomo, Eddie Alvirez, Oscar Abdiez Andia, Victor Torres, Ronald Ruiz and Erik Viveros charged in a gang-related kidnapping for ransom.
• Jury trial in the case of James Anthony Rojas, a Mission Hills man charged in widespread real estate foreclosure fraud case.

Antelope Valley Courthouse
• Sentencing in the case of Christopher Anthony Hall, a Palmdale RV driver charged with murder and attempted murder.

Van Nuys Courthouse
• Status hearing in the case of Jesse Bernard Winnick, a man charged with fatally stabbing his mother.

San Fernando Courthouse
• Pretrial conference in the case of Jacquelin Linaras, charged in the death of an infant.

Van Nuys Courthouse
• Preliminary hearing in the case of Kevin Lamont Thomas, a former coach at Birmingham High School charged with sexually molesting four teenage girls in a private basketball camp he ran.
• Pretrial conference in the case of Bennett Ira Goldberg, a man charged with animal cruelty after his dog died in a hot car.

Pasadena Courthouse
• Jury trial in the case of Ezel Ethan Channel, a Nickelodeon employee charged with child molestation.

The jury in the Juan Alvarez Metrolink train death case has spoken - He'll get life in prison without the possibility for parole. Readers of Mean Streets have also spoken through the nifty survey I set up here last week. So far 71 people have responded, 45 people saying Alvarez should be sentenced to death, 26 saying he shouldn't.

Thirty one people took the time to write comments about the case. Here they are:

• thery (should) carry not the sword in vain :New Testament Wed, 7/16/08 7:37 AM
  
• One thing for sure - he wont kill again! Wed, 7/16/08 5:15 AM
  
• There is no forgiveness from the grave !!! Tue, 7/15/08 9:08 PM
  
• Got to make an example of train wreckers or we'll have trains crashing everywhere Tue, 7/15/08 7:32 PM
  
• he deserves the same treatment as he gave to his victims Tue, 7/15/08 7:23 PM
  
• he had no right to take a life, but now is the time to heal! Tue, 7/15/08 10:17 AM
  
• life in prison Mon, 7/14/08 4:15 PM
  
• Cops are gang members too!So is Bush he's a skull & bones gang member! Mon, 7/14/08 1:55 PM
  
• It was not premeditated Mon, 7/14/08 1:51 PM
  
• He was being selfish when he decided to leave the vehicle on the tracks and had disregard for others. Mon, 7/14/08 1:46 PM
  
• As an excon I know how difficult life in prison is. You are not in control of your daily life's activities, you live with people that are not of your caliber, sleep, eat (explitive), shave,and shower when some (explitive)(that is more than likely younger than you} uses their tranical dictitorial demeaner towords you , etc...... Is killing Alvarez going to bring back the 11 people? Does 11 wrongs make 1 right? Alsoif yeah are without sin cast the first stone!!!!!! Mon, 7/14/08 1:46 PM
  
• he wanted to kill himself so now he can get his wish. Mon, 7/14/08 1:04 PM
  
• death will not make him suffer, hard labor will,that what they give you in the millitary for killing someone Mon, 7/14/08 11:32 AM
  
• pig Mon, 7/14/08 8:46 AM
  
• harvest his parts so that those with failing organs can get a second chance at life Thu, 7/10/08 5:15 PM
  
• I don't believe a life is justified by taking another life. Thu, 7/10/08 4:01 PM
  
• It cost more to execute him then to keep him alive. Thu, 7/10/08 12:03 PM
  
• his life is already destroyed why would you kill him on something he didn't really try to do? it will not bring back any of those lives. there gone face it. he will have to deal with it for the rest of his life that he killed people unjustly. people need to get a clue. people are always talking about when someone is put on deathrow or put to death how they have closure. what type of person are you then. my mother was killed brains blow out. if i had or the officials killed him would that make my pain easy? no i am a more compasionate person. because it really lets me know how precious life really is. Thu, 7/10/08 9:03 AM
  
• give the idiot what he is a little prick... Wed, 7/9/08 1:36 PM
  
• Grant his original wish and tie him to the tracks. Wed, 7/9/08 12:39 PM
  
• If he was suicidal, maybe just a prison sentence will serve him good Wed, 7/9/08 11:51 AM
  
• Wasn't he trying to kill himself in the first place? No, he should be kept alive to feel even a tiny bit of the torment the families are feeling. Wed, 7/9/08 9:42 AM
  
• Costs more to keep him imprisoned. Wed, 7/9/08 9:41 AM
  
• He won't be able to do it again to anyone. Wed, 7/9/08 7:15 AM
  
• Let him suffer in prison (alive), since the victims families are all suffering without them. Wed, 7/9/08 7:13 AM
  
• he is responsible for 11 deaths Tue, 7/8/08 8:31 PM
  
• won't bring them back and killing is wrong and it's one of the ten commentments Tue, 7/8/08 8:24 PM
  
• But only if the necessary elements for its imposition are met. Tue, 7/8/08 6:13 PM
  
• Give him "Life" (Last part deleted by editor) Tue, 7/8/08 3:01 PM
  
• All gang members should be sentenced to death. Tue, 7/8/08 12:51 PM
  
• Let him suffer in prison. Tue, 7/8/08 12:45 PM

  Feel free to take the survey by clicking here.

So you have heard about gangs in schools and in the military. But the National Football League?
I don't know, but here's an interesting article today in the LA Times that really shows just how wide the sphere of influence for gangs are.

Now let me just state for the record that I don't believe just because you are in a gang or have friends that are gang members you are a criminal or commit crimes. But a lot of law enforcement disagree and they view gang members as part of a "criminal syndicate."

Here's the article

Hand signals captured on videotape are once again being scrutinized around the NFL. Only this time, it's not the New England Patriots studying them for a competitive advantage, but league officials in search of a more sinister message.

The NFL, concerned that some players might celebrate by flashing the hand signals of street gangs, has hired experts to examine game tapes and identify the gestures.

"There have been some suspected things we've seen," said Milt Ahlerich, the league's vice president of security. "When we see it, we quietly jump on it immediately, directly with the team and the player or employee involved to cease and desist. Period."

Ahlerich says the league has long warned its players about the influence of gangs and other forms of organized crime, but that those admonishments have intensified since the 2007 killing of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams, who was gunned down after an altercation involving known gang members.

My colleague, Larry Altman, over at the Daily Breeze in Torrance got the scoop today of a ring of burglars busted in some 40 cases from the South Bay to Tarzana. Check out the Crime and Courts blog for more.

There's a police angle to the IndyMac takeover deal.

Police ordered angry customers lined up outside an IndyMac Bank branch to remain calm or face arrest Tuesday as they tried to pull their money on the second day of the failed institution's federal takeover.

San Fernando Courthouse
• Jury selection in the case of Roberto Mendez Alba and Edwardo Medina, charged in kidnapping for ransom.
• Pretrial conference and motions in the case of Antonio Rodriguez and Debby Saravia, charged with child abuse, murder in death of 5-year-old girl, alleged abuse of 6-year-old boy. Saravia and Rodriguez were arrested in November 2004 after paramedics were called to a home in the 28000 block of Sturbridge Drive in Castaic and found the girl in convulsions, sheriff's officials said shortly after the two were taken into custody.

Van Nuys Courthouse
• Preliminary hearing setting in the case of Pedro Ortiz, who was charged in San Fernando Valley child molestations.

Van Nuys Courthouse
• Pretrial conference in the case of Jay Selznick, who was charged with carjacking.

Pasadena Courthouse
• Mental competency report in the case of Song Nam Chang, who was charged with the murder of his son.

Pasadena Courthouse
• Pretrial conference in the case of Ara Grigoryan, who was charged with murder.

San Fernando Courthouse
• Pretrial conference in the case of Jacquelin Linaras, charged in the death of an infant.

San Fernando Courthouse>
• Pretrial conference in the case of Anthonio Llerenas, accused of using a child as a shield.

Rachel Uranga takes us into the streets with the LAPD's domestic violence unit.

A couple of robberies to report from overnight ...

Yesterday at 11:40 a.m. in the 5200 block of Lindley Ave., a man described as white entered the business, pulled a shotgun and demanded cash, before he took off in a stolen tow truck. Police recovered the stolen vehicle and weapon in an alley off of Lindley, but found no suspect.

At 1:10 a.m. today in the 21600 block of Roscoe Blvd., possibly two suspects entered and demanded beer and money from the store clerk. The suspects then attacked the clerk, who pulled out a billyclub and engaged the suspects, who took off. One of the suspects was later located suffering from a head injury as a result of the struggle with the store clerk and was taken to Northridge Hospital. He was booked on a robbery charge. Police were searching for a second person.

Ex-LAPD cop, Danny Mastro, spent 26 years seeing firsthand what gangs can do to the city of Angeles. Now as a retiree, he's planning anti-gang efforts in Simi Valley to make sure that the gang problem doesn't come over the hill into Simi from L.A. by expanding schools' intervention and prevention programs.

Check out the updated San Fernando Valley Crime Map plotting out the locations of significant crimes reported by the LAPD since May.

I put a survey up yesterday asking readers of Mean Streets, "Should convicted murderer Juan Manuel Alvarez get the death penalty?"

Twenty nine people responded. Thank you. Here's how you voted - 19 people said yes; 10 said no.

Here are the comments:

• he is responsible for 11 deaths
  
• won't bring them back and killing is wrong and it's one of the ten commentments
  
• But only if the necessary elements for its imposition are met.
  
• Give him "Life" (ergo: being anally raped in prison)
  
• All gang members should be sentenced to death.
  
• Let him suffer in prison.
  

Click Here to take the survey

I've created a Web survey to gather responses on whether Juan Manuel Alvarez, who was convicted of killing 11 in the 2005 Metrolink train disaster.

Click Here to take survey

The FBI gathered investigators, psychologists and crime analysts from across the country to come up with profiles of serial killers.

Their study released today from the Behavorial Science wing of the bureau is supposed to help cops detect those killers. Along the way it busts some of those myths that serial killers are freaky loners like Hannibal Lecter, or that they simply want to get caught, like the Zodiac Killer.

It's an interesting read, with background on where the phenomenon of serial killers began and even a letter from Jack the Ripper.

Dear Boss I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now. I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha. ha. The next job I do I shall clip the ladys ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldn't you. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. My knife's so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good luck. Yours truly Jack the Ripper

Here's the report.

......And a few "myth busters" from the press release:

1) Serial killers are not all dysfunctional loners: some have had wives and kids and full-time jobs and have been very active in their community or church or both.
2) Serial killers are not all white males: the racial diversification of serial killers generally mirrors the overall U.S. population.
3) Serial killers do not want to get caught: over time, as they kill without being discovered, they get careless during their crimes.

Unveiling the city's latest crime-fighting gadget, the LAPD announced plans to create a real-time tracking system Monday that will give officers a bird's-eye view of violence as it happens.
Housed in the department's Regional Crime Center and partly funded by Target, the digital maps will display where radio calls originate and arrests and crimes occurs, along with GPS devices worn by paroles. It will go online in October.
"We will be able to provide information a lot faster. Before it was officers going in blind," said Lt. Sean Malinowski of the LAPD's Regional Crime Center. "Now, we will be able to provide leads to them."
For instance, if there is a shooting at a Van Nuys building, the crime center can tell responding officers how many shootings occurred in the area over the past weeks, if there are nearby shootings and if parolees live in the apartment.
Now, officers must wait to return to the office to research similar information. It will also provide real-time deployment information.

Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend.

Here are a couple of attempted burglaries from over the weekend.

On Saturday at 1:40 a.m. in the 6500 block of Troost Ave. in North Hollywood, someone entered a home. The victim awoke, yelled at the suspect and chased him out of the residence. No property was taken.

Another one was reported on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. in the 14600 block of Friar Street in Van Nuys. The victim reported that while he was sleeping, someone entered the apartment. The suspect opened the door, then quickly closed the door and took off.

LAPD Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held yet another press conference this week to tout falling crime numbers. This time, it was the mid-year report. (See story for details)

Numbers are a tricky thing and often politicians use them to tell the story they want to tell in the press, so I asked Cmdr. Jerry Szymanski over at Valley Bureau --who I am sure wants to also tell a story of cops supressing gangs-- about how these crimes are classified and possibly manipulated.

First of all a crime is considered a gang crime if the suspect or the victim is a gang member _ regardless of what motivated the crime. For instance if a gang member is robbed at a liquor store: gang crime. If a female gang member is raped by her non-gang boyfriend: gang crime. And vice-versa.

The department tracks 12 violent gang crimes; homicide, aggravated assault, attacks on officers, rape, robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, shots fired into dwelling, arson, criminal threats and extortion.

Arguably, there's ways to hide gang crimes from other crimes. For instance, you can classify the number of homicides, which are up, as non-gang crimes and make it look as if gang crime is falling all together.

But Szymanski assured me this wasn't the case and frankly few people have a good inside view of what the LAPD is doing other than federal monitors. But to be sure he pointed to a statistic that most accept as one of the best ways to measure violence in the city: the number of people shot.

Across the board, it's falling whether it is a gang crime or not.

In the Valley, year to date, there's been 125 people shot compared to 172 last year.

From the AP:

LOS ANGELES (AP) A policeman who made anti-gay remarks during off-duty hours as a pastor is suing the Los Angeles Police Department, alleging religious discrimination.

Sergeant Eric Holyfield, dressed in clergy attire, told mourners during a 2006 eulogy for a fellow officer that homosexual acts were "sinful" and an "abomination" and would lead to eternal condemnation.

Deputy Police Chief Charlie Beck, who was among the mourners, filed a formal complaint against Holyfield after the funeral.

The lawsuit says LAPD brass then passed him up for promotions and pay raises in retaliation.

A Vineland Boyz member will spend the rest of his life in prison for shooting to death a 16-year-old girl who had testified against one of his fellow gang members. Raul Robledo was sentenced to the life term in a closed hearing Monday. The 30-year-old shot Martha Puebla outside her San Fernando Valley home on May 12, 2003. Days earlier she had testified at a hearing against Jose Ledesma, a fellow gang member of Robledo's. Ledesma and another member, Javier Covarrubias, admitted their roles in Puebla's death and are serving life sentences.

I wrote about Puebla in the pages of the Daily News in 2003. Her family told me she was a caring aunt to a then-7-year-old nephew who, admittedly, associated with troublesome friends.

She was shot across the street from her home in the 7600 block of Case Avenue. She was standing in front of her house, talking to friends when a man walked up to her and fired several shots from a pistol, then took off in a dark blue midsize sedan.

Family members told me that before the man fired the gun, he asked her sister, ``Do you know me?'' and Puebla responded no.

Police said then that the case was a "slap at the fiber" of the criminal justice system because they rely on witnesses to come forward and they promised to pursue the case with "great vigor."

Three LAPD officers were placed on home assignment and prosecutors are looking into possible charges after a judge abruptly ended a trial and exonerated a man accused of cocaine possession after a defense attorney produced a video that contradicted the cops' statements.

LA Times reporter Jack Leonard broke the story and suggested in his article that the story reeked of the 1990s Rampart scandal that wound costing the department millions and forced them into a federal consent decree. It also exposed what federal officials said was a pattern or practice of excessive force, false arrests and unreasonable searches and seizures.

LAPD Chief William Bratton told the civilian Police Commission this morning, "We won't tolerate breaking the law to enforce the law."

The department's own internal affairs has launched an investigation, and the LAPD turned over information to federal monitors.

"There will be a full, comprehensive and speedy investigation involving all the players," Bratton said. "(The investigation) will move forward very quickly and very forcefully."

You'll like this one. Cops in a small Georgia town are charging motorists caught in a police pursuit a surcharge to help cover the police officers' fuel costs. They hope to genterate an additional $26,000 a year. Apparently this isn't the only police force changing habits due to high gas prices. Other agencies like Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, are getting out of their cars and hoofing it or hopping on bikes.

In South Fayette, also in Pennsylvania, officers have been told not to sit parked up with air conditioning on.

The local police chief told his patrols: "If you want to stay cool, park under a tree."

A check a while back to see if the LAPD has followed suit. Nope. LAPD officers have not gotten out of their cars due to the rise in gas prices. But stay tuned. The city still is in a big budget crunch.