Author: City News Service

LOS ANGELES – A former UCLA decathlete who also competed with the Philippines national team was arrested Tuesday on a federal charge alleging he raised more than $37 million from investors who were falsely told their funds would be used to finance companies marketing cannabis vape pens. David Bunevacz, 53, of Calabasas, was charged with a single federal wire fraud count, and is expected to make his initial appearance Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles federal court, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years behind bars. Bunevacz solicited investments in various businesses…

LOS ANGELES – As negotiations continue in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday urged Congress to approve additional COVID-19 funding to ensure continued access to vaccinations, testing and care for virus patients. The board unanimously approved a motion by Supervisor Hilda Solis to formally urge President Joe Biden and members of Congress to negotiate an agreement that continues funding for COVID health measures. “For the last two years, federal COVID-19 relief funding has been critical in supporting our efforts in Los Angeles County to combat this unprecedented pandemic,” Solis said in a statement after the vote.…

LOS ANGELES – A federal judge has denied a defense bid to have Ed Buck’s convictions for providing the drugs that killed two men in his West Hollywood apartment overturned on the grounds that the government used evidence of the defendant’s sexual fetishes to unfairly prejudice the jury, according to court papers obtained Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder heard arguments Monday and took the matter under submission, saying she needed time to examine some of the defense arguments before ruling on the acquittal motion. Her written ruling was filed later that day. Sentencing is scheduled for April 14. Buck…

CARSON – A shooting on a freeway in the Carson area Tuesday left one person injured. The shooting was reported at about 10:30 a.m. on the eastbound 91 Freeway near the Avalon Boulevard off-ramp, according to the California Highway Patrol. https://2urbangirls.com/2022-04-man-fatally-shot-on-710-freeway-in-cudahy-investigation-underway/ Paramedics sent to the location on a report of a shooting took a person to a hospital for treatment of an unspecified injury, the Los Angeles County Fire Department reported. The victim’s condition was not immediately available. The Avalon Boulevard off-ramp from the eastbound 91 Freeway was blocked while an investigation was conducted.

NORTH HOLLYWOOD – A man’s body was found Tuesday near an off-ramp from the Hollywood (170) Freeway in North Hollywood. The body was discovered at about 6:45 a.m. near the Burbank Boulevard off-ramp from the northbound freeway, according to the California Highway Patrol. https://2urbangirls.com/another-body-found-along-los-angeles-freeway/ Information was not immediately available on the man’s identity or cause of death.

LOS ANGELES – Many female members of the Kardashian/Jenner clan as well as Ryan Seacrest are listed as tentative witnesses in the upcoming trial of Blac Chyna’s lawsuit alleging the reality show family defendants’ false statements caused her to lose considerable money after the cancellation of the “Rob & Chyna” show after one season. Chyna’s real name is Angela White and her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit claims against Kris Jenner, Kim and Khloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner are defamation and interference with prospective economic advantage. Chyna alleges the four women falsely claimed she physically abused her former fiance, Rob…

LOS ANGELES – Seventeen assault weapons and 250 other firearms, including 15 ghost guns, were surrendered to the Los Angeles Police Department during a gun buyback program last month, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said Tuesday. The annual buyback program was held at five locations across the city on March 26, Moore said. People were given gift cards of up to $100 for surrendering handguns, shotguns, ghost guns and rifles, and gift cards of up to $200 for surrendering assault weapons. “I believe it’s a safer Los Angeles with those 267 fewer firearms. I recognize that the number of firearms in…

LOS ANGELES – A former senior lawyer in the L.A. City Attorney’s Office is set to plead guilty Tuesday to a federal charge connected to lawsuits involving the 2014 Department of Water and Power billing system debacle. Thomas H. Peters, 55, of Pacific Palisades, has agreed to enter his plea to one count of aiding and abetting extortion. He admitted threatening to fire one of the city’s outside attorneys unless that lawyer paid $800,000 to a person who was threatening to expose incriminating information about the city’s handling of the DWP litigation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Peters’ plea…

CUDAHY – A man was shot early Tuesday while driving on the northbound Long Beach (710) Freeway in the Cudahy area, and he died at a hospital, the California Highway Patrol reported. The shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m. south of Clara Street, the CHP reported. “Upon preliminary investigation, it was determined the driver of an unknown black sedan, traveling in the (No. 3) lane, fired an unknown number of shots at the victim’s vehicle, traveling in the (No. 1) lane,” a CHP statement said. “The victim pulled over within the center median and contacted 911,” the CHP reported. “The suspect…

LOS ANGELES – Two Long Beach Police Department officers pleaded not guilty Monday to charges they filed a false police report involving an arrest just over four years ago. Dedier Reyes, 38, and David Salcedo, 28, were charged Dec. 3 with one count each of filing a false report and falsifying a public record. Reyes is also charged with one count of perjury. Reyes, a 16-year veteran of the police force, and Salcedo, a five-year department veteran, were arrested Dec. 3 and released from custody. Reyes and Salcedo are accused of lying about the circumstances surrounding the recovery of a…

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva is offering to have his deputies help clean the streets of Hollywood, which have been overrun in recent years by homeless encampments. “The Los Angeles County Sheriff has plans to make Hollywood feel safer despite it not being LASD’s patrol area,” the department tweeted Sunday. The sheriff compared the idea to last summer’s effort in Venice, where Villanueva led a walking tour on the boardwalk with deputies, reaching out to some homeless individuals to gauge their interest in receiving government- provided housing. Officials later cleared out a major homeless encampment in…

LYNWOOD – The coroner’s office Monday released the name of a man killed in a Lynwood shooting. Abraham Diaz was 38 years old and a Lynwood resident, the coroner’s office said. Deputies were called about 10:55 p.m. Thursday to the 3500 block of East Imperial Highway and California Avenue where they found Diaz with gunshot wounds, said Deputy Miguel Meza of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Anyone with information about this shooting was asked to call the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

COMPTON – A security guard exchanged gunfire with four armed robbery suspects, killing one suspect, at a smoke shop in Compton, but the guard suffered gun wounds himself. The shooting was reported at 6:54 p.m. Sunday in the 1500 block of South Wilmington Avenue, according to Deputy Tracy Koerner of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau. Arriving deputies found the wounded security guard outside the shop, Koerner said. “He told the deputies, four male adult suspects entered the location and attempted to rob it at gun point,” Koerner said. “At that time, the security guard exchanged gunfire with one of the suspects.…

SAN PEDRO – A body was found Monday in the ocean near San Pedro, and an investigation was underway. The body was discovered shortly before 9 a.m. near the 3700 block of South Stephen M. White Drive, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Information was not immediately available on the identity or cause of death of the person.

COMPTON – A male victim was wounded Saturday evening in a shooting at the Compton Car Wash. The shooting was reported at 6:43 p.m. at the car wash at North Bradfield and Rosecrans avenues, according to Ronald Rodil of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau. The victim was shot in the head and driven to a hospital in unknown condition, Rodil  said, adding that an investigation was underway.