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Officer injured, fire hydrant sheared following pursuit near Burbank airport

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:00 GMT

A Los Angeles Police Officer was injured and a fire hydrant was sheared after a driver led officers on a brief pursuit in Sun Valley.The short pursuit started around 5:20 p.m. and came to a stop near the intersection of Hollywood Way and Covello Street, several blocks north of the Hollywood Burbank Airport. Video from Sky5 showed water spewing into the air from a sheared hydrant, which appeared to have been knocked off by a black pickup truck that also crashed into a parked vehicle.A worker attempts to stop the flow of water from a sheared fire hydrant in Sun Valley on Oct. 13, 2023. (KTLA)Workers were seen trying to shut off the water feeding to the hydrant.A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that one officer was injured, although the severity of the injuries was not specified. Ambulances were called to the scene, but no patients were transported, police confirmed.Officers could be seen searching the neighborhood, apparently looking for the driver of the ...

3 soldiers of 'Mexican Mafia' convicted of killing man on behalf of imprisoned leader

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:00 GMT

Three Orange County gang members have been found guilty of murdering another gang member on behalf of the Mexican Mafia, according to the United States Department of Justice.Mike Escobar, 40, of Anaheim, James Mendez, 44, of Garden Grove, and Kevin Trejor, 36, of Anaheim were each found guilty of one count of "violent crime in aid of racketeering."The three men all belonged to different street gangs, according to the DOJ, but have been described as "foot soldiers" for the Mexican Mafia — which is comprised of mostly senior members of Latino gangs operating in Southern California and in state prisons.The three carried out a hit on Costa Mesa gang member Richard Velleda, allegedly on behalf of Johnny Martinez, who was identified by the DOJ as a high-ranking member of the Mexican Mafia.Martinez, 47, is currently incarcerated for other crimes, but is a co-defendant in this case. LAPD, FBI announce ‘Mexican Mafia’ arrests According to evidence presented in the eight-day trial, on Aug. ...

Man shoots alleged car burglar after calling police in San Bernardino County 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:00 GMT

A man who called the police to report a man breaking into a car took matters into his own hands on Friday morning. According to preliminary reports from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, deputies from the Fontana Station responded to the 18600 block of Valley Boulevard in unincorporated Bloomington around 8:15 a.m. on calls of a vehicle burglary in progress. The reporting party – identified as 36-year-old Rancho Cucamonga resident Alexander Marquez – made the initial call to authorities saying that Dennis Smith, 24, of Hemet was breaking into a vehicle.  Teens swung ax, head-stomped and eye-gouged Fullerton College security officers, police say “A short time later, Marquez shot Smith,” a release from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said. “Deputies found Smith suffering from a gunshot wound to his lower body and immediately rendered medical attention.” He remains hospitalized in unknown condition. Marquez fled into a nearby business ...

Taylor Swift is a human economic stimulus package

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:00 GMT

Taylor Swift isn’t just a great performer - she’s also an economic force unlikely any other seen before.Swift earned an estimated $4.1 billion from her wildly successful ERAS TOUR, according to an associate professor of management at Babson College in Massachusetts.But the economic impact goes far beyond what Swift herself pocketed.Software company QuestionPro surveyed 592 Swifties and, based on their responses, estimated that fans spent around $93 million per show on tickets, merchandise, travel, hotels, food and clothing.This worked out to roughly $5.7 billion over the course of the U.S. tour - which appears to be the most lucrative concert tour ever.“She’s an economic stimulus plan all on her own,” says KTLA consumer reporter David Lazarus.Taylor Swift performs during "The Eras Tour," Monday, Aug. 7, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)In August, Swift played six shows at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium which, according to California's Center for Jobs and the ...

Judge tosses charge against Oakland police officer accused of bribery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:00 GMT

OAKLAND — An Alameda County judge on Friday tossed one of the five charges against an Oakland police officer accused of bribing witnesses and later lying about it on the stand.Judge Scott Patton threw out a charge of attempted bribery of a witness against Phong Tran, whose case has represented an early test of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s new Public Accountability Unit and its work to investigate wrongdoings by law enforcement officers and public officials.In striking down the charge, Patton suggested Tran’s statements more closely resembled regular police work, rather than anything nefarious.“That kind of colloquy between a homicide detective and a witness is just not attempted bribery of a witness,” Patton said in a hearing Friday.Still, Patton denied a motion by Tran’s attorney to also dismiss the remaining four counts against the officer, including multiple counts of perjury and bribery of a witness.Prosecutors allege Tran paid an...

Disciplined over his hair, Black student just wants to resume studies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:00 GMT

By Cheyanne Mumphrey and Annie Ma | Associated PressFor more than a month, Darryl George, a Black high school student in Texas, spent each school day sitting by himself in punishment over his hairstyle. This week, he was sent to a separate disciplinary program, where he’s been told he will spend several more weeks away from classmates.In an interview with The Associated Press, George said he has felt discouraged about missing out on his classes and time with the football team.“I feel like I’m missing my full experience of being in the classroom,” George said Thursday.George, 18, was first pulled from the classroom at his Houston-area school in August after school officials said his locs fell below his eyebrows and ear lobes and violated the district’s dress code. His family argues his hairstyle does not break any rules.By the time George is allowed to return to Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, in November, he will have missed 56 of 67 da...

Impossible choice: Stay under airstrikes or flee under airstrikes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:00 GMT

By Isabel Debre and Fatima Shbair | Associated PressGAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Watching the pulverized alleys of Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza empty of people, Naji Jamal was frozen with indecision.Should he heed the Israeli army’s demand that all Palestinians evacuate and make the risky trip to Gaza’s south, where his only certainty was homelessness? Or should he stay at his multistory building — within what the Israeli army has now designated a target zone — ahead of a likely Israeli ground invasion?“It’s an existential question, but there is no answer,” Jamal, a 34-year-old health clinic worker, said. “There is no safe haven, there is no place that is not being shelled and besieged, there is no place to go.”In an unprecedented order to civilians in northern Gaza and Gaza City, the Israeli military gave Jamal — and 1.1 million other Palestinians — 24 hours to make up their minds. It was the sixth day of Israeli bombing prompted by Ha...

Tesla catches fire on SF street, presumed to have been caused by homeless person: officials

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Three vehicles, including a Tesla, were damaged after a fire broke out on a San Francisco sidewalk Friday morning, the San Francisco Fire Department confirmed to KRON4. The fire department received a call about the fire at 21 Brady St. around 8:30 a.m. 6 arrested after thieves use wagon in SF Walgreens theft: police The fire was presumed to have been started by a homeless person, according to SFFD. However, the official cause of the fire has yet to be determined.The homeless person residing on that sidewalk is known to the community, officials said. He was not present when firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze. A photo (see above) from the Citizen App shows the fire damage done to a parked Model 3 Tesla. A homeless person's belongings were also present at the time of the fire. Over $17K of merchandise from Lululemon, Victoria’s Secret recovered in suspected SF fencing operation No other information was immediately available.

Police: Suspected Benicia bank robber nabbed in courthouse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:00 GMT

(KRON) -- A suspected Benicia bank robber was found and arrested when she showed up to the San Joaquin County courthouse Friday for an unrelated case.The woman is accused of threatening to kill everyone inside a US Bank on Southampton Road in Benicia on July 24, according to police."A woman reportedly came into the bank and demanded an undisclosed amount of money or she would kill everyone in the bank. The suspect then fled the bank before officers arrived," BPD wrote.(Photo via Benicia Police Department) Detectives identified the woman through an "extensive investigation" and secured a warrant for her arrest. The Benicia Police Department did not release the woman's name. She was transported and booked into a Solano County jail.

J Street to Democrats: Unconditional Support for Israel’s Gaza War or Lose Endorsement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:00 GMT

On Tuesday, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Ranking Member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., introduced a resolution pledging Congress would stand “with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists.” Nearly every member of Congress announced their support for the resolution — with the exception of 13 Democrats.The resolution, however, does not mention Palestinian civilians, who face an ongoing siege of medieval proportions — with Israeli forces cutting off access to food, water, and electricity — and calls for further restricting and scrutinizing imports because of Hamas’s use of bulldozers and other rudimentary equipment to break down the border fence with Israel. The lack of any attempt in the resolution to urge Israel to avoid civilian casualties, as the Palestinian territory stares down an apocalyptic and ongoing massacre, has led to a small pocket of resistance to the resolution among a handful of ...