Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 489
Santa Monica Police say they have arrested yet another catalytic converter thief. The auto parts are stolen from vehicles in people's driveways, because they contain precious metals such as silver and palladium. The arrested suspect was already on probation for burglary and automobile theft. The press release reads as follows: On June 17, 2022 at approximately 3:30 AM, Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) Officers responded to the 900 block of 4th Street to investigate a theft. The Reporting...
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón recall campaign prompts gang member's push for deal (Video) Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin reports on the recall effort against Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón and on a murder suspect's jailhouse audio obtained by Fox News. Fox News California voters think the entire justice system 'has become a joke': LA Deputy District Attorney (Video) Eric Siddall, vice-president of Association of Deputy District Attorneys in Los Angeles Co...
Los Angeles District Attorney Los Angeles DA George Gascon 'overstates his authority,' can't ignore California law, court rules A California appeals court of Thursday upheld an injunction that said Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon can't refuse to charge three-strike cases, which can significantly increase prison sentences. The court affirmed an earlier ruling that said the directive not to charge strikes against dependants violates state law and the rights of prosecutors in...
On Saturday, two men snatched a woman's purse, then stole her Ford Explorer and left the scene. Police were called. They tried to pull over the Explorer, which hit a parked car near 14th Street and Pearl. They driver surrendered, but the passenger, one Lavonte Montgomery, gave the police a foot chase. He ran ten blocks north and was later taken into custody at Pine Street and 14th Street. Police arrested him. They basically charged the men with robbery, reckless driving, and evading arrest. The...
Los Angeles District Attorney Barger supports recall of Gascón as district attorney Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger voiced her support to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, on Friday, citing a news report published by the Los Angeles Times as being the tipping point for her decision. "Learning that our D.A.'s 'Zero Bail' policy has interfered with a diversion program's ability to serve people who are suffering from addiction, mental illness and h...
May 27, 2022 - California State Senator Ben Allen's law, SB 1290, which he alleges addresses regulating street vendors, such as those who've spent time crowding the Santa Monica Pier, does not adequately address unpermitted vendors, who are the ones causing the problems. Allen's proposal, already passed in the Senate, 23-4, would allow local authorities to impose fines for violations of "a local authority's sidewalk vending program" that are not based - as current law requires - on an...
U.S. Postal Service employee Dewayne Morris Sr. and his son and namesake were charged in federal court with multiple felony counts of bank fraud and conspiracy in connection with the theft of $5 million in Postal money order forms, the Department of Justice announced this week. Morris Sr., 62, along with his son, Dewayne Morris Jr., 39, and four others were charged with conspiring to convert the stolen money order forms into cash, the DOJ said. According to the indictment, Morris Sr., then a...
11: The three girls who overdosed last week in Santa Monica took MDMA pills (“ecstasy” in street lingo) laced with fentanyl. They suffered neurological damage per statement released today by Los Angeles County law-enforcement. Fentanyl is considered to be the primary source of a wave of overdose deaths among youth in Los Angeles and other American cities. Most of the Fentanyl is manufactured in China and reaches the US through our porous Southern border. The girls were said by aut...
Policy/Legal/Political A 'no party preference' prosecutor could shake up California attorney general's race As a prosecutor, Anne Marie Schubert has thrived on being able to pull off what seemed impossible. Schubert, who has served as Sacramento County's district attorney for eight years, has a reputation for poring over long-forgotten cases and detailed DNA evidence. Her work drew national attention when it led to an arrest and conviction in the infamous case of the Golden State Killer, a...
George Gascón's reform initiatives put to the test One of D.A. George Gascon's reform initiatives has been heard at a state appeals court. NBC4's I-Team has been following Gascon's efforts to reduce prison time in most criminal cases. Investigative reporter Eric Leonard reports on the NBC4 News at 5 on Monday, May 9, 2022. NBC4 Former LAPD commander's whistleblower lawsuit over firing allowed to proceed An LA Superior Court judge has allowed a lawsuit filed by former LAPD Commander Nicole Mehrin...
19: A man with a pipe broke a window in the alley between Lincoln and 7th Street at Arizona and then assaulted a resident who tried to stop him from breaking additional windows. Arthur Jeon, Santa Monica resident, was walking home from his gym on the Promenade when he witnessed the original vandalism. He wrote in an email addressed to Downtown Santa Monica Inc, "I saw a man throw a two-foot heavy pipe and break a window in a building on the alley between Lincoln and 7th at Arizona, a block...
Courts & Rulings Court hears case over deputy who didn't read Miranda rights You have the right to remain silent. Everyone knows police aren't supposed to question suspects without reading them their Miranda rights. But what happens when law enforcement officers don't first read suspects their rights? The Supreme Court on Wednesday wrestled with whether a sheriff's deputy can be sued for money damages for violating the rights of a hospital employee who was accused of sexually assaulting a patien...
April 28, 2022 - A Nextdoor user posted this morning that his friend was robbed at gunpoint at Ocean Avenue and Washington Avenue in Santa Monica at approximately 1:00 am yesterday morning. According to the posting individual, the male victim was standing outside his car talking on his cell phone when the assailants rolled up in a car, jumped out, and pulled a gun on him. Cash and his cell phone were taken in the armed robbery. Comments on Nextdoor regarding the armed assault were dismayed and a...
Courts & Rulings DMV's license-revocation hearings run unconstitutionally The Court of Appeal for this district on Friday declared unconstitutional the system under which one person acts as both the hearing officer and an advocate for the Department of Motor Vehicles at a hearing to determine if the driver's license of a person arrested for drunk driving should be suspended. "[W]e conclude combining the roles of advocate and adjudicator in a single person employed by the DMV violates due...
Firemen put out a fire in an apartment where four cats lived with their owner on 20th Street. Two cats were saved using pet oxygen masks. Two other cats died of smoke inhalation as detailed in the press release below: 4.20.22: At 7:47 p.m. Santa Monica Firefighters were dispatched to a reported structure fire on the 1900 block of 20th street in the Pico Neighborhood of Santa Monica. There were initial reports that occupants were possibly still inside. The first Engine Company arrived on scene...
A Santa Monica native was attacked by a bagger at the Ralph's grocery store on Cloverfield, when he complained to the manager about two vagrants blocking the entrances. The vagrants were a man and a woman with a child, and were holding up whiteboards asking for money. The customer (we'll call him Thomas), complained about it to the manager. She shrugged her shoulders and said "What do you want me to do about it?" "Thomas" told her to ask Security to remove them. He them proceeded to do his...
Two men and two women were arrested for catalytic converter theft near Colorado Blvd and Harvard Avenue in Santa Monica. The four were booked for Grand Theft Conspiracy. The theft of catalytic converters has become a serious problem in California. The thieves fence the anti smog devices at scrap metal yards, which pay up to $300 for the semi precious metals inside, which include palladium and rare earths. Replacing them can cost more than $3000 for the vehicle owner. One suspect, later...
It was a normal, quiet Sunday evening on the prison yard. The Oscars were live on TV. While Will Smith was capturing attention with the slapping of Chris Rock, another, far more serious and far more ugly scandal was breaking within CIW's walls. We prisoners were locked into our cells at 830pm, as usual. Something nefarious was taking place after hours. The next morning we discovered that 7 women were missing. 6 female prisoners ( no transgenders ) had been falsely accused of prison rape by one w...
At first, I admit I was skeptical of Warden Houston. I even thought she was anti women, at first. However, over time I was won over by her leadership and her ability to steer CIW through several Covid-19 outbreaks. As a woman, and a woman color, Warden Houston took the reins of CIW in the middle of a Covid surge. Most people would be reluctant to take such a risky career move. San Quentin Men's Prison went through a now infamous Covid disaster after one decision to transfer inmates caused a...
Los Angeles District Attorney Why so many of DA Gascón's prosecutors want him recalled The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office is in turmoil. Prosecutors opposed to DA George Gascón's reform agenda and unhappy with his management practices overwhelmingly support his removal - just 16 months after he assumed office. Gascón is seeking to make the criminal justice system less punitive. He says his policies are designed to end mass incarceration and racial disparities, and that he wa...
11: The Santa Monica Police Department have identified a suspect responsible for the halting of mail carrier service in the 1300 block of 14th Street. Davon Ray Morgan, age undisclosed, is the suspect of an Assault with a Deadly Weapon (broomstick) on a United States Postal Service mail carrier on January 19, 2022. SMPD says Morgan is "known to our officers" and was also familiar to the mail carrier he attacked. He was described as someone who "lived in the area." The victim received a mino...
17: A brush fire along the side of the 10 Freeway near the 17th Street bridge, was visible for miles early Saturday afternoon at about 12 noon PST. Gray smoke from the fire was visible for miles. Traffic backed up behind the fire for about 3 miles, as several units of the Santa Monica Fire Department extinguished the blaze. The fire was extinguished by 1:20 pm. News helicopters circled the site, which is only about a mile East of the McClure Tunnel. The fire never involved more than a few...
A homeless man who was convicted of raping a Santa Monica woman in her Ocean Park apartment in 2018 was sentenced on Friday to 100 years to life in state prison. Dylan James Jensen, now 44, was found guilty last Dec. 7 on seven counts, including rape, sexual battery, sodomy, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon. Santa Monica police arrested Jensen on June 4, 2018 after he entered the victim's apartment in the 2900 block of 4th Street through a sliding glass door of an elevated patio and...
April 6, 2022 - The Adidas store on the Third Street Promenade was robbed at around 2:30 am this morning by an individual who smashed the storefront window with a cinderblock, used a fire extinguisher to hide his tracks after he took merchandise, and then exited through the rear door of the building. Six police squad cars responded within 5 minutes of an initial call made by John Alle, a nearby property and business owner, who initially saw and heard the suspects inside the Adidas building. Alle...
The deaths of an aspiring actress and her architect friend have been ruled homicides, says the LA County Coroner's office. This result was not too surprising, given that David Pearce has been charged with murder after the two were dumped outside local hospitals. Christy Giles, 24, and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26, both died of “multiple drug intoxication,” says the Los Angeles County Clinical Examiner-Coroner. Marcela Cabrales-Arzola also suffered numerous organ failures. The two young wom...