Sunday, November 13, 2011

Downed power line severely shocks Whittier man outside his house [Updated]

A Whittier man was critically injured when he was shocked by a downed power line outside his home.

[Updated at 10:24 p.m.: The man, identified as Joel Ramirez, has died, according to the Los Angeles County coroner.]

Police who responded to the 24-year-old man's home in the 8100 block of Friends Avenue on Saturday found him the ground.

A power line had fallen, possibly because of the weather, and had ignited a fire in the house, said Whittier police Lt. Bryan Ellis. 

The victim was apparently shocked while trying to put out the fire. He was hospitalized in critical condition. Officials could not give an update on his condition Sunday.

A family member who tried to help the injured man also was shocked, but was not critically hurt, Ellis said. He could not say whether the family member was hospitalized. 

The cause of the downed line is being investigated, said David Song, a spokesman for Southern California Edison. The loss of the line left 19 households without power until early Sunday morning, he said.

ALSO:

U.S. Capitol Christmas tree on display in L.A.

Armed man posing as FedEx worker robs jewelry store

96-year-old accused of killing wife had been 'confused': neighbor

-- Abby Sewell

Earthquake: 3.1 quake strikes near Moreno Valley [Updated]

A shallow magnitude 3.1 earthquake was reported Sunday evening three miles from Moreno Valley, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 8:59 p.m. Pacific time at a depth of 6.2 miles.

According to the USGS, the epicenter was five miles from Loma Linda, six miles from March Air Force Base and 59 miles from Los Angeles.

[Update, 9:55 p.m., Nov. 13: The quake did not appear to have caused any damage. Late night liquor stores in Moreno Valley did not report even noticing the quake. The epicenter was in the San Jacinto Fault zone.]

 

In the past 10 days, there has been one earthquake magnitude 3.0 or greater nearby.

Read more about California earthquakes on L.A. Now.

-- Ken Schwencke and Kenneth R. Weiss

Image: Location of the epicenter. Credit: Google Maps

Shooting victim is tied to Occupy Oakland

Occupy Oakland shooting

Oakland police said Sunday that a man shot to death near the Civic Center on Thursday had been staying at the Occupy movement's encampment, as had one suspect in the killing.

Many campers whose tents now crowd the City Hall plaza have said they did not believe the shooting was connected to Occupy Oakland and suggested that the city was using the incident as further justification to raze the encampment. Police have issued three eviction orders to campers since Friday, asserting that they are violating laws banning open fires, overnight camping in public parks and the use of propane, among other activities. The most recent "cease and desist" order was handed out to campers Sunday.

In an evening news release, police said the Alameda County ccoroner's office has identified the man shot shortly before 5 p.m. on Thursday as Kayode Ola Foster, 25. Foster's family, the release said, confirmed to police investigators "that Foster had recently been staying at Frank Ogawa Plaza."

 PHOTOS: Occupy Oakland

According to police, witnesses say one suspect was a "frequent resident" at the camp for several days before the shooting. A second suspect is also being sought. The Oakland Police Department and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

The encampment took root Oct. 10 and was cleared by police Oct. 25 in an action that triggered a mass evening protestwith some violence and a heavy response by police in riot gear who used tear gas, bean bag bullets and other projectiles on the crowd. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, a veteran liberal activist, allowed the camp to reestablish itself on the plaza after images of the gas-clouded streets and news of a critically injured peaceful protester made international news.

But then a largely peaceful Nov. 2 "general strike" attended by as many as 10,000 supporters turned violent at night when 200 people took over a building, lighted fires and vandalized small businesses and city property. A majority of the City Council, business leaders and even some Occupy movement supporters have since called for the camp to be dismantled again.

In a statement Sunday, Quan said the city has made "real progress" over the last few days in encouraging some protesters to leave voluntarily. The city reports that the number of tents is down to 150 from 180.

"It is now clear to most Oaklanders that because of the increased violence associated with the camp and the strain on our city's economy and resources, now is the time for the encampment to end," she said.

City officials will continue to provide information about shelters and other services, and is opening its winter shelter Monday -- a day early.

In her message Sunday, Quan said the city has "tried to negotiate" with the encampment since the beginning but that Oakland remains "one of the few cities where occupiers refuse to allow direct communications with a group of representatives."

"Camping is a tactic," she wrote. "It is one that has divided Oakland, a city of the 99%. It's time to work together on the issues of unemployment, foreclosures and education cuts. While the camping must end, the movement continues."

ALSO:

 FULL COVERAGE: Occupy protests

L.A. police shoot man in downtown Los Angeles

Oakland again issues eviction notice to 'Occupy' protesters

96-year-old accused of killing wife had been 'confused': neighbor

-- Lee Romney

Photo: An Occupy Oakland medic, wearing red, and others tend to a shooting victim near the encampment. Credit: Jane Tyska / Associated Press

 

 

L.A. police shoot man in downtown Los Angeles

Los Angeles police shot a man who reportedly had a knife on Sunday afternoon, leaving him in critical condition.

Police officers assigned to the Occupy L.A. tent city responded to a call of "a man with a knife" about 4:40 p.m. Sunday near 7th and Los Angeles streets in the nearby Fashion District, said Officer Karen Rayner, a spokeswoman with the Los Angeles Police Department.

"When the officers arrived, there was an officer-involved shooting," Rayner said. The man was taken to the hospital and remains in critical condition.

Rayner said there  was not necessarily any connection between the shooting and the tent city at City Hall. An investigation is underway to figure out all of the details in the officer-involved shooting, she said. "It takes days for us know what happened."

-- Kenneth R. Weiss

Suspected drunk driver hits deputy in Palmdale

A suspected drunk driver ran a stop sign and broadsided a sheriff's patrol car in Palmdale over the weekend, authorities say.

Deputies responding to a report of a possible burglary and man armed with a gun were parked along the west side of Casa Verde Drive and Avenue S about 3:24 a.m. Saturday, according to a Sheriff's Department statement.

While they were parked, Jose Aguilar, 19, ran through a stop sign at about 35 mph and struck the driver's side of a patrol car with a deputy sitting inside.

The deputy had to be extricated from the wreckage by firefighters and was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Aguilar was given a field sobriety test, which he failed, and was arrested on suspicion of felony driving under the influence. He was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and then booked at the Palmdale sheriff's station in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Aguilar was not connected with the original burglary report, officials said. 

ALSO:

Palmdale burglary suspects asked wrong man for help

Rodney King pleads not guilty in DUI case

Occupy San Francisco: Two police officers injured during march 

-- Abby Sewell

DUI driver hits deputy Palmdale

A suspected drunk driver ran a stop sign and broadsided a sheriff's patrol car in Palmdale over the weekend, authorities say.

Deputies responding to a report of a possible burglary and man armed with a gun were parked along the west side of Casa Verde Drive and Avenue S about 3:24 a.m. Saturday, according to a Sheriff's Department statement.

While they were parked, Jose Aguilar, 19, ran through a stop sign at about 35 mph and struck the driver's side of a patrol car with a deputy sitting inside.

The deputy had to be extricated from the wreckage by firefighters and was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Aguilar was given a field sobriety test, which he failed, and was arrested on suspicion of felony driving under the influence. He was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and then booked at the Palmdale sheriff's station in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Aguilar was not connected with the original burglary report, officials said. 

-- Abby Sewell

Reader photos: Southern California Moments Day 317

Click through for more Southern California MomentsLight show: Kevin Balluff makes a 30-second exposure of cranes over a cargo ship at night in the Port of Los Angeles on May 7.

Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. Follow us on Twitter and visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.

$10,000 reward offered for return of stolen Yorkies

A Buena Park woman is offering a $10,000 reward for the safe return of four Yorkshire terriers stolen when her home was burglarized.

Linda Bush, 70, said she left the house to buy groceries around 10 a.m. Friday morning, and when she returned, she found someone had broken in through a window and ransacked the house, taking televisions, cameras, jewelry and the Yorkies.

Three of the stolen dogs were 7-week-old puppies. The fourth was a small, 8-year-old female with several medical conditions. Bush said the thief might have mistaken the adult dog, Staci, for a puppy because of her size.

The puppies' mother was left behind. "She just keeps going to the room, crying and looking for them," Bush said.

Bush asked that anyone with information about the puppies' whereabouts email bejaze@roadrunner.com or call the Buena Park police at (714) 562-3902.

ALSO:

Armed man posing as FedEx worker robs jewelry store

96-year-old accused of killing wife had been 'confused': neighbor

Downed power line severely shocks Whittier man outside his house

— Abby Sewell

Downed power line severely shocks Whittier man outside his house

A Whittier man was critically injured when he was shocked by a downed power line outside his home.

Police who responded to the 24-year-old man's home in the 8100 block of Friends Avenue on Saturday found him the ground.

A power line had fallen, possibly because of the weather, and had ignited a fire in the house, said Whittier police Lt. Bryan Ellis. 

The victim was apparently shocked while trying to put out the fire. He was hospitalized in critical condition. Officials could not give an update on his condition Sunday.

A family member who tried to help the injured man also was shocked, but was not critically hurt, Ellis said. He could not say whether the family member was hospitalized. 

The cause of the downed line is being investigated, said David Song, a spokesman for Southern California Edison. The loss of the line left 19 households without power until early Sunday morning, he said.

ALSO:

U.S. Capitol Christmas tree on display in L.A.

Armed man posing as FedEx worker robs jewelry store

96-year-old accused of killing wife had been 'confused': neighbor

— Abby Sewell

Waitress pleads guilty in cocaine sales at restaurant

A waitress accused by Huntington Beach police of selling cocaine at a downtown restaurant and bar pleaded guilty last week to aiding in the sale of drugs.

Brynn Ashley Boucher, 24, was sentenced to three years of formal probation and a day in jail. She also was ordered to pay fines as well as $2,000 to the Victim Witness Emergency Fund.

Initially, police said Boucher, while working at the Killarney Pub & Grill, sold cocaine to undercover officers on three different occasions in March, April and May. Those felony charges were dismissed.

Boucher is still employed by Killarney, according to her attorney, Ron Chrislip. And Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney, told the Huntington Beach Independent. that Boucher did not sell the drugs.

"She was working in a bar and she put the officers in contact with the other defendant, the male defendant," Emami said. "She was an accessory in that she put the officers in contact, but she herself did not sell drugs."

Raiders-Chargers game marred by stabbing, 2 assaults

Aircraft carrier Carl Vinson turned into NCAA basketball court

Occupy Oakland: Fatal shooting brings new push to close camp

— Mona Shadia, Times Community News

Crime alerts for Sherman Oaks, Del Rey and eight other L.A. neighborhoods

Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 10 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times’ Crime L.A. database.

Five neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Sherman Oaks (A) was the most unusual, recording five reports compared with a weekly average of 1.6 over the last three months.

Del Rey (F) topped the list of five neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded 13 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 6.3 over the last three months.

Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for Nov. 3–Nov. 9, the most recent seven days for which data are available.

Ben Welsh, Thomas Suh Lauder

Armed man posing as FedEx worker robs jewelry store

An armed man posing as a FedEx worker entered a Montrose jewelry store Saturday morning and stole an undisclosed amount of items, police said.

The robber entered Honolulu Jewelry on 2250 Honolulu Ave. at about 11:45 a.m. wearing what appeared to be a FedEx uniform and carrying a package in his arms, said Glendale police Sgt. Tim Oswandel.

The man then brandished a handgun and struck the business owner in the face a couple of times with the gun before taking jewelry and fleeing, Oswandel told the Glendale News-Press.

No customers were in the store at the time of the alleged robbery, but witnesses said they saw the man drive off in a light-colored Volkswagen Jetta.

Raiders-Chargers game marred by stabbing, 2 assaults

Aircraft carrier Carl Vinson turned into NCAA basketball court

Occupy Oakland: Fatal shooting brings new push to close camp

— Tiffany Kelly, Times Community News

Man, 2 teens wounded in possible mistaken-identity gang shooting

A man, his teenage son and the son's girlfriend were wounded Saturday night in Mar Vista in what may have been a mistaken-identity gang shooting.

The victims, along with the son's mother, had gone by car to a liquor store at Culver Boulevard and Slauson Avenue at about 8:20 p.m. The mother went inside to buy something, then the father went in to talk to her, said LAPD Sgt. Craig Brown.

When the father got back into the car, four or five men came up to the side of the vehicle, and two of them opened fire, striking the father and the two teens, Brown said.

The father was shot in the left shoulder, with the bullet narrowly missing his heart, and remained hospitalized in stable condition Sunday morning. The teens were treated at the hospital and released.

Police believe the assailants were gang members who may have mistakenly believed the family was affiliated with a rival gang and took the opportunity to take revenge for a previous shooting, Brown said.

Saturday night's shooting was caught on surveillance video, but no suspects have been arrested.

— Abby Sewell

U.S. Capitol Christmas tree on display in L.A.

U.S. Capitol Christmas tree

A Sierra white fir chosen to be the Christmas tree at the U.S. Capitol will be on display in Los Angeles on Sunday. 

The 65-foot tree, cut down in California's Stanislaus National Forest, will be on display from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Griffith Park in the parking lot of the Autry National Center at 4700 Western Heritage Way. Visitors are invited to make their own tree ornaments.

The tree is scheduled to make two more Southern California stops as part of its road trip to Washington. It will be in at the Victory Gardens mall in Rancho Cucamonga on Monday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and in the High Desert town of Barstow on Monday evening.

The tree is the fourth from California to be selected as the official Capitol Christmas tree in the tradition's 41 years.

ALSO:

Malibu marathon runners head toward Zuma Beach

Occupy Oakland encampment quiet despite eviction notices

96-year-old man arrested for allegedly killing elderly wife in West L.A.

— Abby Sewell

The 65-foot U.S. Capitol Christmas tree is loaded onto a truck for its 20-day journey to Washington Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011, after being cut from the Stanislaus National Forest near Sonora, Calif. Credit: Jerry Snyder, Stanislaus National Forest / Associated Press

Man dies of gunfire returned in South L.A.

A man who fired on another man in South Los Angeles died after the victim fired back at him, police said.

Officers initially responded to a report of a shooting on McKinley Avenue and 75th Street around 10 p.m. Saturday. The victim, a 37-year-old man, was found with multiple gunshot wounds to his right arm, leg and pelvis, said LAPD Sgt. Rudy Alaniz at the 77th Street station. The gunshot victim was transported to a local hospital, where he was in stable condition Sunday morning.

About two hours later, police found out that a second man, believed to be the shooter who injured that victim, had been transported to a hospital in Pomona with a gunshot wound to the chest. He died. His name and age were not available.

The man who survived was sitting in a van Saturday night when the suspect approached on foot and began shooting, Alaniz said. The man in the van fired back and hit the shooter.

Alaniz said the incident did not appear to be gang-related and may have stemmed from a personal vendetta. It was unclear whether the wounded man would face charges.

-- Abby Sewell

Malibu marathon runners head toward Zuma Beach

Runners set off on full and half marathons headed toward Malibu Sunday morning at the Third Annual Malibu International Marathon.

The full marathon was scheduled to begin at Freedom Park at Willis Avenue and Convair Street in Camarillo at 7 a.m. The half marathon was slated to begin at 7:30 a.m. at Thornhill Broome Beach Campground at Point Mugu.

Both races proceed along the Pacific Coast Highway, ending at Zuma Beach. The scheduled end time is 1:30 p.m.

The race is a fundraiser for charities including Christopher’s Haven, Cornucopia Foundation, Future Leaders for Peace, Lazarex Cancer Foundation, Malibu Boys & Girls Club, Malibu Green Machine, Malibu Special Education Foundation, Malibu Wings Team and Shark Fund.

-- Abby Sewell

 

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