What not to do during an LA car chase

We may be used to the car chases being aired on Los Angeles TV networks, but when they come through your own neighborhood things get a little real. It was especially scary that the suspect was not only considered armed and dangerous – he was possibly a murder suspect, and definitely had an AK-47. When that happens:

DON’T

throw things at the suspect’s car during a low-speed chase through your neighborhood. The suspect may have an AK-47. CBS Los Angeles reported that people were seen throwing items at the suspect’s car in Los Feliz – don’t do it!

DO

watch from your home or work, away from windows, because who knows what will happen and where.

DON’T

jump out in front of the suspect’s car as it drives through your neighborhood, especially if the media is report the suspect is heavily armed. The driver was suspected of murder, which means they probably will run you over.

DO

watch from your home or work, away from windows.

And while we’re at it, if you;re a murder suspect, are heavily armed, and get caught talking or texting on your cell phone during a normal traffic stops, just pull over. We don’t mean to make light of it – it is a serious situation. Just don’t try to intervene, let the police do their thing, and hopefully, thankfully like this time, there was no loss of life or serious injuries to passer-byes.

 

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Echo Park United Against Hate Crimes organizing town hall

The stabbing of two long-time Echo Park residents on May 24 have sparked not just community-wide concern over safety, but also condemnation after the LAPD announced it was considering the crime a hate crime.

On Tuesday, June 26, the Echo Park United Against Hate Crimes have organized a town hall meeting featuring community groups, elected leaders, and LAPD representatives to address the hate crime issue.

The town hall is co-hosted by El Centro Del Pueblo, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721, Assemblymember Gilbert Cedillo, Los Angeles Councilmember Eric Garcetti. Captain Murphy of the LAPD Northeast Division will also be providing a special report.

The LAPD are categorizing the incident as a hate crime, and, as the town hall flyer states, “we are calling on the Echo Park community to declare that a hate crime against any one member of our community is a hate crime against the entire community.”

Echo Park United Against Hate Crimes Town Hall Meeting
Tuesday, June 26 from 6-7:30 pm
El Centro Del Pueblo, located at 1157 Lemoyne St.

Please RSVP to conradoterrazas@roadrunner.com or 213.200.6161

Dinner and childcare will be provided.

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Video of Echo Park stabbing from last week released

Two people were stabbed late-night last week (Wednesday, May 23, 2012) near the corner of Echo Park Avenue and Montana Street, in what may have been a hate crime. Blogger of “Your Friend, Savannah” said the two victims, one of which was stabbed in the hip and one in the stomach, were called “faggots” by the suspects just before the attack.

The Northeast Division of the LAPD released two videos on its You Tube account yesterday, showing the suspects stabbing the victims (via LAist):

The caption reads: “In this first video, the Suspect tells the Victims, “You guys are fucking faggots!” He walks away with his 2 associates, then runs back toward the Victims waiting for a bus and stabs Victim-1 in the abdomen. The LAPD is trying to identify the Suspect and his associates.”

The caption reads: “In this second video, the Suspect had just stabbed Victim-1 and is running south on Echo Park. He stops, takes a fighting stance, and as Victim-2 approaches, stabs Victim-2 in the midsection, striking the hip bone. Suspect flees on foot.”

If you can identify any of the suspects, you can submit your tips anonymously by calling 800-222-8477.

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Blogger says friends were stabbed in Echo Park last night

The blogger of “Your Friend, Savannah” has a startling post today about two friends who were stabbed on the corner of Echo Park Avenue and Montana Street last night:

Two friends of ours were out last night and were on their way home. On MONTANA and ECHO PARK they were approached by a man (possibly 2?) who is described as a gang member. He began yelling at them and calling them “faggots” and saying really awful homophobic slurs. (Neither are gay, but are straight allies, are vocal for gay rights, and wear rainbow patches and buttons on occasion.)

They were both stabbed and all of their stuff was stolen.

My friend Brian is a bike rider in LA and his bike is BLACK, has a predominate RAINBOW STICKER down the side of a tube, and it has a BIG, FAT SEAT. His back pack is orange and his helmet is grey. (He is sometimes known as BRAINZ LA)

Brian was stabbed in his stomach, right above his belly button. He is alive and discharged, as this luckily didn’t hit anything vital. Our other friend (name withheld) was stabbed in his hip, so hard, it fractured his pelvis. He is still recovering in the hospital.

We’ve inquired for some more information, including the time of the incident. One of our Twitter friends heard a multitude of sirens last night at about 12:30 am, so we’re wondering if it’s related.

Stay safe out there!

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Neighborhood Crime Update: Echo Park “very clear”

Captain Bill Murphy sent out a crime update for the Northeast Division, reporting that Echo Park has been “Very clear – looks great.” Although the LA Times crime map displays some property crimes from March 14-20 (vehicle thefts, burglaries, etc.), there were no violent crimes.

Year-to-date crime numbers covering January 1 through March 17 this year show some improvement for the Northeast area overall. Read more details from Captain Murphy after the jump.

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LA Times reports a recent spike in violent crime for Echo Park

Echo Park is among a few LA neighborhoods where violent crime has spiked in the past week, according to the LA Times crime mapping report.

From December 1 through December 7 there were five violent crimes and 10 property crimes, averaging 3.4 crimes per 10,00-00 people (which is higher than surrounding neighborhoods like Silver Lake and Chinatown).

The report also indicates that the property crime reports were about average. However, we’ve heard before that there can be an increase in thefts from vehicles around the Christmas holiday – you should never leave your iPod and other valuables in the car, but it’s also risky leaving any clothing and other seemingly non-valuable items.

Stay safe out there! Consider subscribing to Select Patrol, which is not only a great deterrent for crime but a fantastic resource for the Echo Park community.

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DUI Checkpoint in Echo Park Saturday

If you plan on going out and having too much of a fun time this weekend, make sure you have a designated driver. Not just because there are TONS of DUI checkpoints planned for the Los Angeles area in the next couple of weeks, but because it’s a responsible thing to do. Either way, officers will be located at Sunset Boulevard and Sutherland in Echo Park on Saturday, August 20 from 8:00 pm to 2:00 am to keep intoxicated drivers off the road.

The crackdown is dubbed the “Avoid the 100” – meaning, avoid the 100 local police agencies involved in the checkpoints. They’ll be deploying DUI Driver’s License Checkpoints, Multi Agency DUI Task Force operations and local Roving DUI patrols during the 18 day Summer/Labor Day campaign. They won’t just be in Echo Park on Saturday, and many other checkpoints are planned throughout Los Angeles tonight through September 4.

But what do you care – you live in Echo Park and just walk to the nearest bar instead of driving… right?

While they’ll be checking for driver’s licenses, in March this year the LAPD changed the rules regarding impounding cars of unlicensed drivers – a rule that immigrants rights advocates have said unlawfully targeted undocumented immigrants. According to an article in the LA Times:

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said that police would be required to try to contact the registered owner of a vehicle stopped at a checkpoint. If the owner is licensed and can arrive in a reasonable amount of time, the car will not be impounded. If the owner is unlicensed, but a licensed driver is in the car, that person may be permitted to take it.

The article continues: The Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley found that of all the cars impounded during a three month period in 2009, 55% were impounded for unlicensed drivers, versus 14% impounded for an actual DUI and criminal warrants.

Be safe!

h/t LA Now

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Angelino Heights police activity this afternoon

A post on the Angelino Heights Yahoo! forum today caught our attention, and you may have noticed the helicopter and police activity. Here’s why:

At the request of Ed of Select Patrol, I’m just sending out a quick set of details of the police activity that occurred on the 1300 block of Carroll Avenue starting around 3:10pm today. All of this information is relayed from Ed and one or two other neighbours who were around.

Around 3:10 this afternoon, a young woman was dropped off near the intersection of Bellevue and West Kensington. She approached another woman that was walking down the sidewalk and ripped a gold chain from this woman’s neck before either walking or running west in the direction of Edgeware. Ed witnessed the incident and followed the robber up Bellevue to Edgeware and onto Carroll with the victim of the attack in pursuit on foot.

When the suspected thief reached the corner of East Edgeware and Carroll, it seems she returned the necklace to the victim in an attempt to claim she had committed no crime. Ed was in touch with LAPD dispatch at this point and was relaying details of the incident and the location of the alleged thief. After some remarkably loud and histrionic behaviour (claims that the took the necklace because she was pregnant and needed the money for neonatal care, etc.) that seems to have been an attempt to get the victim and Ed to leave her alone, the suspect then approached 1320 Carroll while wailing aloud.

At this point in time, roughly 3:20pm, the police patrol cars were inbound and there was an LAPD helicopter circling. Within a few minutes, the patrol cars had arrived, the suspect was in handcuffs being questioned and the victim was returning to Carroll now that there was a police presence.

And that was pretty much the end of the drama.

One neighbour did claim that he saw a suspect vehicle parked near the intersection of Douglas and Carroll with only the driver in it and it may have been the vehicle that dropped off the alleged thief and was waiting to pick her up. Ed and at least one LAPD officer think this may be the pattern of a group of robbers. As always, you should keep a healthy eye out for cars that seem to be traveling too slowly for traffic or that seem to be passing pedestrians repeatedly. It is likely that the victim in this case was spotted from the car and may have been watched for a short time before she was mugged.

Just sending this out as a favor to Ed. I have related the events as they were conveyed to me as accurately as I can but I only witnessed the last few minutes of the incident. As a result, there are sure to be errors. My apologies in advance.

Stay safe out there!

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Three suspects at large following Echo Park shooting

At around 7:30 pm last night (Monday, February 21, 2011), a teenage boy was shot and killed in a possibly gang-related incident at North Benton Way and West Temple Street, reports various media outlets. The shooting occurred in front of the old LAPD Rampart Division headquarters.

Echo Park Patch reports the suspects fled in a black Toyota Camry. The suspects are still at large as of this morning.

If you have any information that will help this investigation, call the Rampart Division at 213-484-3400.

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The case of the missing fountain in Angelino Heights

An Angelino Heights resident was surprised to find a hole in his front yard where there once was a beautiful fountain. He posted this warning on the Angelino Hieghts neighborhood Yahoo! forum:

Last night [Saturday, February 19], between 7:30 and 11:00 pm our beautiful, antique fountain was violently ripped-out and looted from our front yard at 1411 Carroll Avenue.

It will be missed not only by us who have so much enjoyed watching the birds drinking and bathing and listening to the sound of running water but also by all the birds, dogs, children and adults who pass by and for whom it has given so much pleasure.

Please contact us if you saw or heard anything. Also, if anybody has a spare fountain lying around in their back yard please let us know.

We’ve read with concern the many recent posts about thievery in our neighborhood. Just so you all know, it’s getting worse.

I’ve had some pretty surprising stuff stolen from my yard (including a VERY heavy rock sculpture). It’s amazing someone will go to such lengths to steal your stuff!

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La Espiga Bakery tagged… again

We noticed a worker painting over the remnants of overnight tagging on the front and sides of the La Espiga Bakery, located on the corner of Glendale Boulevard and Scott Avenue. We’ve seen it get tagged up before, but they really did a number on the bakery this time around.

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While you were sleeping: Weekend shootings keep Rampart busy

This went under the radar for us, but police need your tips so we thought we’d pass it along anyways.

Last Saturday night just before 2:00 am, Rampart officers responded to a call about a shooting along the 400 block of North Westlake Avenue and found a man with a gunshot wound in his leg (he told them it came from a car driving by). The man was taken to the hospital where he was treated.

Minutes later, another shooting on the radio at Glendale Boulevard and Park Avenue. Officers found an abandoned tan colored Mercury van on the southeast corner. Then, minutes after that, another shooting victim was reported to be at a hospital on the 1700 blog of West Temple Street. Unfortunately, that person died.

More from the LAPD Blog:

Read more

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Zooming in on Echo Park: LA Times crime map

The LA Times recently added a new facet to the website’s mapping project – a detailed map of daily crime reports for cities and neighborhoods that allows “users to analyze crime statistics, search historic crime patterns and receive alerts when several crimes occur in an area over a short period of time.”

The LA Times maps use data from the LAPD and the Sherriff’s Department to create report for cities and neighborhoods. This map comes after the LA Times criticized the LAPD crime map database for having quite a few errors that led to serious misinterpretations of crime data. Some time since the publication of the LA Times crime map, the LAPD crime map page says the following:

The Los Angeles Police Department’s Crime Map page is currently undergoing technical renovations in preparation for a new crime mapping system which will include expanded crime data from adjacent agencies, and will accommodate our growing viewer data base. Until such time as the new crime mapping system is fully functional, you may view Part One crime data provided to the Los Angeles Times by the Los Angeles Police Department at http://projects.latimes.com/mapping-la/crime/. We apologize for any inconvenience during this process and thank you for your patience and understanding.

No word on whether or not (and when) the map will be functional again on the LAPD website, but for now you can click on the map image above to scroll through the crime data for Echo Park. It’s supposed to be updated daily, so keep an eye out on the map and see if you can tell if everything’s being reported.

Authors note: the Echo Park map does not include the greater Echo Park/Elysian Park and Historic Filipinotown areas that many residents consider to be Echo Park boundaries. To learn more about Echo Park boundaries, click here.

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Suspect shot and killed by police in Echo Park

Photo from the NBC LA website

The Eastsider LA is reporting that a suspect was shot and killed by police at around 4:30 pm today on the corner of Temple Street and Union Avenue.

Police were pursing the vehicle after a check on the license plate determined that the occupants were armed and dangerous. After being cornered by police, the suspect got out of his car and started firing the rifle at officers, [LAPD spokeswoman April] Harding said. She had no other details about the incident.

No police were injured, but reports are saying the suspect shot at police with an AK-47, and the car may have been stolen. KTLA is reporting the police were following a “convicted felon” through the Downtown LA area.

UPDATE:

Don’t try to drive up Temple in Echo Park tonight – Temple Street is closed at Glendale Blvd. all the way to Burlington, and traffic has gotten a little messy in those areas.

In addition to the AK-47 (“or a similar weapon”), LA Now is reporting the suspect also had a handgun in his back pocket. The name has not yet been released, and it’s not yet known whether or not officers were fired upon.

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Neighborhood Crime Update for Echo Park

The following crime report about Echo Park comes from Captain Bill Murphy of the Northeast Division in an email today:

Echo Park

Had a few property crimes last week (BTFV/Car break-in). This week looks real good – only two BTFVs associated with Dodger Stadium. Pay attention to tow trucks. We have arrested several tow truck drivers who have taken vehicles without having proper paperwork/permission (say from an owner of a parking lot who posts no parking signs). This is a scam as the charge the vehicle owners $300 to get their car back.

Elysian Valley

Very clear since September 12th – no crimes.

Historical Crime Data:

Captain Bill Murphy’s email address is 26152@lapd.lacity.org

Other Northeast Division news:

  • On Saturday October 2, 2010, between 10 am – 2:00 pm, Please come and celebrate the renewal of the neighborhood – free food and entertainment will be provided.
  • On Saturday October 30, 2010, between 10:00 am – 3:00 pm, take a tour of the police station and see the many exhibits on display. They will have a “Halloween” theme with a pumpkin patch and a Halloween costume contest (prizes to the winners). The entire event is free so come on down with the kids and enjoy.
  • The Northeast Division will sponsor a carnival in November – date and times TBD. The proceeds from the carnival will support Northeast Youth Programs.
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