Body camera reveals Los Angeles deputy fired at woman who sought help for domestic violence as nine-year-old daughter watched
The Los Angeles sheriff’s department (LASD) released body-camera footage on Friday of an officer fatally shooting Niani Finlayson, 27, who had called 911 for help during a domestic violence incident.
The footage from the 4 December encounter showed that deputy Ty Shelton shot Finlayson four times within roughly three seconds of entering her home.
Continue reading...Republican convicted over false statements about payment from billionaire should not have been tried in Los Angeles, court says
An appellate court on Tuesday reversed a 2022 federal conviction against former Nebraska congressman Jeff Fortenberry, ruling that the Republican should not have been tried in Los Angeles.
Fortenberry was convicted in March 2022 on charges that he lied to federal authorities about an illegal $30,000 contribution to his campaign from a foreign billionaire at a 2016 Los Angeles fundraiser. He resigned his seat days later after pressure from congressional leaders and Nebraska’s Republican governor.
Continue reading...Organizers focus on second-most popular shopping day in cities including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles
Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters waved the pan-Arab colors flag and wore the symbolic Palestinian keffiyeh in a series of coordinated “No Xmas as Usual in a Genocide” rallies and marches across the US on Saturday.
Organizers with Shut It Down for Palestine said the organization had focused its protests on the second-most popular shopping day of the year – the day before Christmas Eve – as part of ongoing civic and commercial disruptions. Organizers said they planned to “organize actions to boycott, disrupt and rally at commercial centers”.
Continue reading...Contributing factors in Friends star’s death included ‘drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine’
Matthew Perry died of the “acute effects of ketamine”, the Los Angeles county medical examiner said on Friday.
The Friends star was found “unresponsive in the pool at his residence” on 28 October and pronounced dead at the age of 54. The medical examiner ruled that the manner of death was an accident.
Continue reading...Sergey Ochigava, who had Russian and Israeli identification, faces felony charges of being an aircraft stowaway
A Russian man who flew on a plane from Denmark to Los Angeles in November without a passport or ticket told US authorities he didn’t remember how he got through security in Europe, according to a federal complaint filed by the FBI. He has been charged with a federal crime.
Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava, 46, arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on 4 November via Scandinavian Airlines flight 931 from Copenhagen. He initially told authorities he had left his passport on the airplane which he flew on. A US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer could not find Ochigava on the flight manifest or any other incoming international flights, according to the complaint filed 6 November in Los Angeles federal court.
Continue reading...City audit says police flights cost $3,000 an hour with unclear benefit, but police chief disputes findings
Los Angeles spends nearly $50m a year on its police helicopter program, or roughly $3,000 for every hour of flight, according to a new audit that raises questions about the financial and environmental impacts of the city’s aerial surveillance.
The LA controller’s report released on Monday suggests the use of LA police department (LAPD) helicopters is nearly constant across the city, and the majority of flight time is not in response to reports of major crimes, but instead for transportation, ceremonial trips or patrols. The flights are a major source of pollution and appear to disproportionately affect some communities of color, the audit said.
Continue reading...Singer, who reportedly bought $58m property last year, says she also gets left alone in Los Angeles
Adele has said she is likely to stick around in Los Angeles because the sunny weather helps her stave off seasonal depression.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, she said the California city’s sunny weather was “good for me”. Los Angeles has an average of about 263 sunny days in the year.
Continue reading...Suspect was charged in the fatal shootings of the three men and one suburban resident and also with residential robbery
Prosecutors have charged a Los Angeles man with four counts of murder in the fatal shootings of three men who were unhoused in the city and a suburban resident last month.
Jerrid Joseph Powell was also charged with one count of residential robbery and one count of being a felon with a firearm, the Los Angeles county district attorney’s office said in a statement. He also faces special circumstances of committing multiple murders, murder in the course of a robbery, as well as personal use of a firearm allegations, the statement said.
Continue reading...Jerrid Joseph Powell, 33, had already been in custody for the robbery and killing of a fourth man
A Los Angeles man who had already been arrested in another shooting investigation has been identified as the suspect in three recent killings of unhoused men, police said Saturday.
The Los Angeles police chief, Michel Moore, said 33-year-old Jerrid Joseph Powell was identified as the suspect in the three killings after authorities determined that a firearm found in the vehicle he had been driving when he was arrested earlier was linked to the shootings.
Continue reading...District attorney George Gascón says police believe the same person shot and killed three victims this week
Los Angeles officials say they think one person has targeted unhoused people after three back-to-back slayings. Although the mayor, police chief and district attorney stopped short of calling the suspect a serial killer, all of the victims were killed by someone who walked up to them during pre-dawn hours as they were sleeping, shot them and walked away.
“These are some of the most vulnerable people in our community and are being singled out – it appears to be – because of their status,” George Gascón, the Los Angeles county district attorney, said during a press conference on Friday.
Continue reading...Social media videos show protesters igniting smoke devices and spattering fake blood outside Michael Tuchin’s home
A protest outside the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) president’s Los Angeles home is reportedly being investigated as a possible hate crime after social media videos showed demonstrators igniting smoke devices and spattering fake blood.
According to reports by the Los Angeles Times and other news outlets, Aipac president Michael Tuchin’s home in the Brentwood section was vandalized Thursday on Thanksgiving by protesters who also pounded pots in the driveway and held up a sign that read: “Fuck your holiday, baby killer.”
Continue reading...Police said the entertainer was slumped over the steering wheel of a car stopped in the road at 5.45am on Friday
Tiffany Haddish was jailed early on Friday in Los Angeles on suspicion of driving under the influence, authorities said, marking the second time in less than two years that the actor and comedian has been arrested on such allegations.
Police in Beverly Hills said they found Haddish, 43, while responding to a call to check on a motorist who was stopped in the road at about 5.45am. Officers found Haddish appearing to be slumped over the steering wheel of that car, whose engine was still running.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
Continue reading...Officials launch inquiry as victim identified as Jesse Dominguez, 34, who family says may have been in mental health crisis
A California highway patrol officer fatally shot a man on Sunday during a confrontation in the middle of a Los Angeles highway, state authorities said as they announced an investigation into the incident.
The Los Angeles county medical examiner’s office on Tuesday identified the man as Jesse Dominguez. The 34-year-old was walking along the westbound lanes of Interstate 105 in south Los Angeles county when the deadly encounter unfolded, the California highway patrol said.
Continue reading...California state officials seek public’s help in identifying person shown in two photos posted to social media
Investigators on Saturday identified a “person of interest” in the Los Angeles arson fire last week that closed a central freeway for days, snarling traffic as repair crews continue to work around the clock to fix it.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, and the state fire marshal released two photos in a “crime alert notification” posted to social media and said it was seeking the public’s help to identify the person.
Continue reading...More than 1,000 people gather in the rain, shutting down a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard
Hundreds of demonstrators in Los Angeles shut down a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon in a protest demanding Joe Biden and US lawmakers call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
In the heart of Hollywood, along the palm tree-lined streets near Ripley’s Believe It or Not! and the Walk of Fame, protesters waved Palestinian flags and held signs – “not in our name” and “let Gaza live”. More than 1,000 people gathered in the rain, including a group that staged a sit-in at the intersection with flowers in hand and shirts reading “Jews say ceasefire now” as tourists watched.
Continue reading...Hazardous materials teams clear burned material from underneath Interstate 10 as crews assess damage
Arson was likely the cause of a raging fire over the weekend that has closed a mile-long stretch of the I-10, a major elevated interstate highway near downtown, the California governor said on Monday.
The California department of forestry and fire protection fire marshal made a preliminary determination that the fire was set intentionally, Gavin Newsom said during a press conference at the fire site. He said investigators have received some tips from witnesses but did not say if there were any suspects or persons of interest.
Continue reading...Union leaders on Friday shared details of three-year contract, on AI, wage increases and end to racist hair and makeup practices
Streaming services like Netflix will pay actors bonuses amounting to roughly $40m per year as part of the tentative labor agreement reached between the SAG-AFTRA actors union and major Hollywood studios, union leaders said on Friday after their board backed the deal.
The proposed three-year contract, which the union said was valued at more than $1bn over three years, was endorsed by 86% of SAG-AFTRA’s national board.
Continue reading...Sam Haskell, whose father represented Dolly Parton and George Clooney, suspected of murder of wife and her parents in LA
The 35-year-old son of a Hollywood talent agent whose clients included Dolly Parton, George Clooney and a British prince, has been taken into custody in Los Angeles after a bloody torso authorities say probably belongs to his wife was discovered in a strip-mall dumpster.
Sam Haskell, who was booked on suspicion of murder on Wednesday, is also suspected of killing his wife’s parents who are missing, detectives have said.
Continue reading...Mourners were gathered at the Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles to pay tribute to the actor
Actor Matthew Perry, who died on Saturday at age 54, was buried on Friday at a Los Angeles cemetery in a service attended by relatives and castmates from the hit 1990s television sitcom Friends, show business media reported, citing photographs.
Mourners gathered at the Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, less than a mile from the Warner Bros studio where the show was filmed. It is also the final resting place of numerous Hollywood A-listers including Michael Jackson, Lucille Ball and Elizabeth Taylor.
Continue reading...From magazine editors to Hollywood agents, supporters of Palestinians experiencing widespread rebuke
A rising number of prominent US figures have faced discipline over controversial public comments they have made about the Palestinian cause, as attacks by Israel on Gaza after the 7 October massacre of Israelis by Hamas fighters intensified.
David Velasco, the editor in chief of Artforum magazine, was reportedly fired after the magazine published an open letter in response to the war.
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