Author: City News Service

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Police Department says it’s fully prepared to meet the public safety needs for Sunday’s NFC conference championship game, as well as the upcoming NFL Week activities and Super Bowl LVI. The department said deployments have been boosted across the city, with hundreds of additional officers in uniform as well as specialized assignments. “These added staffing resources will ensure our community remains safe while deterring any celebratory unruly conduct or other disruptions,” police said. Also, officials said the vast majority of the more than 1,300 LAPD employees forced out of work due to COVID-19 issues…

LOS ANGELES – Regal Cinemas is suing three insurers for allegedly failing to honor their policy obligations to compensate the theater chain for business losses suffered during coronavirus-related, government- ordered shutdowns. The named defendants in the Los Angeles Superior Court suit brought Thursday are Allianz Global Risks US Insurance Co., Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. and Zurich American Insurance Co. “Despite issuing broad, all-risk business interruption insurance policies, the insurers have refused to compensate Regal for a single dollar of its losses,” the suit states. Regal has about 80 theaters in California, including many in Los Angeles County, making California…

LOS ANGELES – A 29-year-old woman died Saturday after falling from a party bus on a downtown Los Angeles freeway. Officers from the California Highway Patrol responded at 2:55 a.m. to the northbound Hollywood (101) Freeway and Los Angeles Street, the site of the collision, the CHP said. The victim was struck by a vehicle in the No. 3 lane of the northbound freeway. The driver of that vehicle stayed at the scene and cooperated with authorities. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The CHP’s Central Los Angeles office urged anyone with information about the death to call…

LOS ANGELES – Police Saturday announced the arrest of a fifth suspect in connection with a spate of follow-home robberies that occurred in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Glendale and Fontana, as well as the fatal shooting of a man near a Hollywood restaurant. Detectives located and arrested 24-year-old Marquis Ford of Los Angeles on Thursday for his alleged involvement in the Nov. 23 shooting death of Jose Ruiz Gutierrez in Hollywood. Ford was booked on suspicion of murder and was being held in lieu of $2 million bail, the Los Angeles Police Department reported. The Ford case will be presented…

LANCASTER – The coroner’s office Saturday released the names of two women killed in a car crash in Lancaster. Crystal Ramirez died at the scene of the crash and Simone Palmer died at a hospital, the coroner’s office said. Both women were 33 years old. Their cities of residence were not available. The crash was reported just before 2 a.m. Friday at Division Street and East Avenue K-8, the Los Angeles County Fire Department reported. The circumstances of the crash were under investigation.

LOS ANGELES – Police Friday sought public help to find the hit- and-run motorist responsible for fatally injuring a man in the Manchester Square area of Los Angeles near Inglewood. The man, in his 70s, was injured about 9:35 p.m. Thursday in a crosswalk at Manchester and Van Ness avenues and died at the scene, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. His name was withheld, pending notification of his relatives. “A vehicle traveling east on Manchester Avenue turned left onto northbound Van Ness Avenue and collided with the victim,” police said in a statement. The truck was described only…

LONG BEACH – A man was shot and wounded in a possible gang- related attack in Long Beach, and police Friday were seeking two suspects who ran from the scene. Officers sent to the 300 block of Cherry Avenue about 7 p.m. Thursday found the wounded man in a vehicle that crashed into a parked vehicle at the location, the Long Beach Police Department reported. The wounded man was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, police said. Investigators believe the man was seated in his vehicle in the 1900 block of East Fourth Street when…

LOS ANGELES (CNS) – With visitors flocking to Los Angeles to attend the Super Bowl on Feb. 13, Airbnb announced Friday that it will implement a designated customer support team to assist Los Angeles hosts and guests. During the week of Feb. 7, the team will be available to address big and small problems that arise during reservations in the Los Angeles area. The specialized team will also include Airbnb Safety Team members to support L.A.-area hosts and guests during an emergency. If a crisis takes place during an active reservation, hosts and guests can use the app’s one-touch Urgent…

SAN GABRIEL – Authorities Friday identified a man who was fatally shot at a residence in San Gabriel. Danny Wong, 53, died at the scene of the shooting, which was reported about 10:20 p.m. Wednesday in the 1400 block of Prospect Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “Officers learned a second male … adult with a gunshot wound was transported to a nearby hospital,” a sheriff’s statement said. “Officers believe both victims are related to the same shooting incident.” The second man was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. No arrests were…

LOS ANGELES – Three owners of dine-in restaurants who filed a legal action demanding compensation for revenue losses when indoor dining was prohibited under coronavirus restrictions have dropped their case. In their petition filed last April 12, petitioners James P. Trani, Steve Patrick and John Marvoich named as respondents the state of California, Los Angeles County and the city of Los Angeles. The three businessmen alleged the forced closures amounted to a government taking and violated their rights of free speech and assembly. Their court papers did not name the restaurants they own. In October, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge…

SANTA ANA – A Santa Ana man was arrested for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old girl he met online, and police Friday urged any other possible victims to contact detectives. Brayan Padilla-Gomez, 22, was booked on suspicion of kidnapping and child molestation, and bail was set at $1 million, police said. The girl told police she met Padilla-Gomez online during the month of October, 2021, police said. “Padilla-Gomez picked up the victim and drove her to his home, where he sexually assaulted her and video recorded the incident,” police said in a statement. “Padilla-Gomez sent the video to the victim’s friend,…

LONG BEACH – A man died Friday when the car he was driving crashed on an on-ramp to the Long Beach (710) Freeway in Long Beach. The crash occurred about 2 a.m. north of Ocean Boulevard, according to the Long Beach Police Department. The 23-year-old Compton man died at a hospital, police said. His name was withheld, pending notification of his relatives. “Preliminary investigation revealed the driver of a gray Honda Civic was heading northbound on the on-ramp when he failed to turn with the curved on- ramp and collided with a metal guard rail,” police said in a statement.…

LOS ANGELES – A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled that Netflix must face trial in a lawsuit brought by a Georgian chess master who alleges she was defamed in an episode of the series “The Queen’s Gambit,” according to court documents obtained Friday. Nona Gaprindashvili filed suit in September, alleging that a line in the series in which a character said that she had “never faced men” in her career was “grossly sexist and belittling.” Gaprindashvili noted in the suit filed in Los Angeles federal court that she had faced dozens of male competitors by 1968, the year…

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Controller Ron Galperin warned Thursday that the city’s budget during the next fiscal year will not have one-time federal funding that created new programs aimed at building equity and alleviating homelessness. “The pandemic hit the economy and our neighborhoods hard last year, putting the city in a financial bind,” Galperin said. “Cost-cutting measures and federal funding helped Los Angeles get back on solid ground, but there are tough budget choices ahead. The city created a number of homelessness and equity programs with funds that won’t be there next year, making it necessary to understand whether…

WHITTIER – Río Hondo College was awarded a grant of nearly $1 million in federal funds to support unhoused and transitionally unhoused students, the Whittier community college announced Thursday. The funds will increase staffing for the Hope Scholars Program, an assistance project that provides support services for students in need. The college was one of five schools nationally to receive a Basic Needs in Postsecondary Education award from the U.S. Department of Education. According to the college, the funds will allow the program to increase community awareness and expand support services including tutoring and success coaching, academic counseling, mental health…