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A man suspected in the 2008 slaying of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Juan Escalante was among 26 fugitives the U.S. has taken into custody from Mexico, the Department of Justice announced. Escalante, 27, was shot and killed that August in front of his mother’s house in Cypress Park, leading to the arrest of multiple suspects and the search for Roberto Salazar, who was charged with murder although he had not been apprehended. In its news release on Tuesday, the DOJ listed Salazar among the fugitives sent to the U.S. from Mexico to face federal and state criminal charges from...

The explosives that detonated and killed three L.A. County Sheriff’s Department deputies may have been found in a storage unit at an apartment complex in Santa Monica, a law enforcement source tells KTLA. The source then reported that authorities initially thought the explosives, military-style grenades, were inert before they cut one open the next day as part of a training exercise. The blast occurred last Friday morning at the Biscailuz Regional Training Center in East Los Angeles. The three deputies, Detective Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Detective Victor Lemus and Detective William Osborn, were killed while moving “undetonated ordnance,” sources told KTLA on...

Cudahy vice mayor allegedly told gang leaders to 'get your f***ing members in order' FOX EXCLUSIVE: A Los Angeles County official is allegedly being investigated by the FBI after she posted a video to social media calling on gang members to defend their territory from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Cynthia Gonzalez, the vice mayor of Cudahy in southeast Los Angeles County, allegedly shared a video on social media late last week in which she appeared to encourage 18th Street and Florencia 13 gang members to protect their turf from ICE agents. "Not for nothing, but I want...

Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman will allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty again in Los Angeles, undoing one of the signature policies of his predecessor, George Gascón. The move comes as little surprise: Hochman campaigned on the issue almost as soon as he announced his challenge to Gascón in 2023. But it still marks a significant shift in one of the largest prosecutor’s offices in the nation. Under California law, the death penalty can only be sought in cases where a defendant is accused of murder with special circumstances. That can include multiple homicides or cases where the victim is...

SOLEDAD, Calif. — An inmate is being investigated for the attempted murder of a peace officer on Tuesday at Salinas Valey State Prison, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials. Anthony G. Ramirez, 43, allegedly attacked a custody staff member on a dayroom floor with an improvised weapon that was concealed in his waistband, according to the CDCR.

A tumultuous first term in office for Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón seems likely to end in a failed reelection bid, as he trails challenger Nathan Hochman by more than 20 percentage points in early returns. Gascón swept into office in 2020 on a promise of reform and restorative justice, but Hochman — a former federal prosecutor and defense attorney — has spent months painting the incumbent as responsible for increases in crime and homelessness around L.A.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing new evidence in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez to determine whether they should be serving life sentences for killing their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion more than 35 years ago, the city’s district attorney said Thursday. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said during a news conference that attorneys for Erik Menendez, 53, and his 56-year-old brother, Lyle Menendez, have asked a court to vacate their conviction. Gascón said there is no question the brothers committed the murders, but that his office will be reviewing new evidence and will make...

Nordstrom is closing two corporate offices and asking some employees to relocate to its Seattle headquarters, GeekWire has learned. Nordstrom confirmed that it will let leases expire at its offices in Los Angeles and Chicago, citing low usage of the spaces as a primary reason for the decision. Most employees based in those cities will transition to full-time remote roles while others will be required to relocate to Seattle, the company said. It will use store locations in Los Angeles and Chicago for smaller team gatherings.

LA County Assistant DA Diana Teran, who oversaw George Gascón's efforts to prosecute law enforcement officers instead of criminals and to release thousands of felons from prison early, was arrested Saturday on 11 felony charges related to the "unauthorized use of data from confidential, statutorily-protected peace officer files." Like many alleged felons in Los Angeles County, Teran was out on bail less than an hour after her arrest. Unlike many alleged felons in Los Angeles County, the Diana Teran scandal has the potential to topple the county's power structure, or to put a severe dent in it. That potential exists...

A former NBA player and actor was sentenced to 90 years to life in prison on Friday for a series of violent sexual assaults, some of which occurred in Los Angeles County, authorities said. “During their investigation, detectives learned [that] in 2010, Byrd was convicted of sexual assault involving a different victim,” the LAPD release stated. “Detectives also discovered that Byrd had been arrested for sexually assaulting a young woman in Washington State in 2005.” Byrd’s victims told investigators that he was “initially charming” before he subsequently forced them into a variety of sex acts. “He started as a charmer,...

Police arrested a man suspected of using a sledgehammer to kill a woman in her 60s at El Camino College in Torrance on Christmas Eve, authorities said. The attack was reported just after 7 a.m. Sunday in the 16000 block of Crenshaw Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Authorities said the victim was collecting recyclables at the campus when she was assaulted. The woman was taken to a hospital, where she died the next day. She was described as an Asian woman between the ages of 60 and 65. Her name has not been released. An investigation...

Police discovered the naked body of a 32-year-old man inside a barrel at Malibu Lagoon State Beach on Monday. Authorities identified the deceased victim as Javonnta Murphy, an aspiring musician from Sylmar, California, according to the Los Angeles Times. A lifeguard allegedly discovered the 55-gallon drum in the lagoon at around 10 a.m. Monday, according to Lt. Hugo Reynaga. Upon inspection, Murphy’s body was found sealed within the barrel, showing no signs of decomposition, the Times reported. While the origins of the barrel remain untraced, detectives observed distinctive markings that may link it to a printing company, the outlet noted....

The committee to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has filed a lawsuit that contends the committee has evidence that tens of thousands of petition signatures were wrongly rejected and seeks the certification of the recall petition. https://signalscv.com/2023/07/recall-gascon-committee-sues-county-claiming-thousands-of-wrongly-rejected/ https://twitter.com/SCVSignal/status/1677479063487913985

The victim of a deadly carjacking in Inglewood, California, was identified Friday as a 63-year-old man from La Habra. Officials with the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office identified the man who died Thursday as Larry Walker, whose SUV was allegedly carjacked by a suspect wanted by police regarding a previous robbery and murder, NBC Los Angeles reported Saturday. During the recent incident, the victim became tangled up in his seatbelt and was dragged for over two miles, according to law enforcement. On Saturday, City of La Habra Mayor Jose Medrano shared a photo of Walker and asked citizens to pray...

Inflation is impacting the entire United States population as prices continue to be a burden for families, but certain California cities are feeling the impact more than others. In a new study from WalletHub, cities were ranked on how much inflation is rising. The study pointed to the year-over-year inflation rate of 8.2% last month, but noted that some cities are feeling costs increase more than others. In the report, 23 Metropolitan Statistical Areas were examined. The site looked at the Consumer Price Index information available for the most recent month and compared it to two months ago and one...

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved a vaccine mandate for all county employees that went into effect on Oct. 1, and Villanueva has previously said he does not plan to enforce the mandate. On Thursday, Villanueva took his concerns to the public, noting that “homicides continued to rise” and might continue to do so, while as much as “20%-30% of [the Sheriff’s Department] workforce is no longer available to provide service” with the mandate in place. “The Board’s vaccination mandate is causing a mass exodus within the Department, which is an absolutely absurd result … We are experiencing an...

In an exclusive interview, Law Enforcement Today learned that L.A. County is mandating that employees register their vaccination status through Fulgent Genetics, an international technology company with ties to China, with a required consent to release their personal and genetic information to foreign nations. https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1449327351628709888/PxC4fEyK?format=jpg&name=small Hilda Solis, chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, issued an executive order on Aug. 4 requiring the county’s 110,000 employees to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 . First responders, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are being required to upload their medical records and personal information into a Fulgent app...

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva called an egg-throwing attack this week on Black Republican recall candidate Larry Elder by a White woman wearing a gorilla mask a hate crime and blamed "woke privilege" for liberal silence on the issue. "QUESTION: How is this not a hate crime? ANSWER: Because "woke privilege" means a white woman can wear a gorilla mask and attack a black man without fear of being called a racist. Where is the outrage from our politicians?" Villanueva tweeted on Thursday. Villanueva said he plans to investigate the attack as a hate crime because the woman wore...

Durst, 78, was sentenced to life in prison without parole Thursday for murdering his close friend, Susan Berman, inside her Benedict Canyon home in 2000. Durst has been held in a wing of USC Medical Center under the watch of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department throughout the trial, but it was not immediately clear if he was still in that facility or when or where he became infected with the coronavirus. The 78-year-old spent the majority of the trial seated in a wheelchair. In court filings, Durst’s attorneys repeatedly sought a mistrial, claiming Durst was too sick to testify...

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has issued a statement saying that while mask-wearing is mandatory indoors, there is an exception for film, TV, and music productions, and the Emmys represent a television production. Celebrities could be seen unmasked at the 73rd Emmy Awards on Sunday. But the LA County Department of Public Health website plainly states that people must wear masks at indoor public settings, regardless of their vaccination status. TheBlaze reached out to the department for a comment about the lack of masks at the Emmys despite the indoor mask-wearing requirement. Here is the department's response:...