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Tag: police official

  • Police search for arson suspect in blaze that burned an abandoned construction site in Chinatown

    Police search for arson suspect in blaze that burned an abandoned construction site in Chinatown

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    Police officials are asking for the public’s help in identifying an arson suspect in connection to a fire that started in an abandoned construction site and injured six people and displaced dozens in the Chinatown neighborhood.

    On Sept. 13 at 3:43 a.m. the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a fire that started at a construction site at 712 New Depot Street and then jumped to a nearby three-story apartment building. Three other buildings were exposed to the flames, according to the fire department.

    An 80-year-old man experienced smoke inhalation and a female tenant, 55, sustained burn injuries to her hands and arms, according to police.

    Two firefighters suffered minor injuries.

    “After a thorough investigation, the [Los Angeles Fire Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms] officials determined that the fire was deliberately set,” Blake Chow, assistance chief for the police department, told NBC4.

    “Investigators have developed a strong lead on a suspect and are hopeful that the arrest will be made soon,” Chow said.

    The Times reached out to Chow but did not receive a comment before press time.

    Although officials suspect arson, the cause of the fire is still under investigation, according police officials.

    Police say tenants in four nearby occupied residential multistory apartment complexes were evacuated from their homes.

    In total, 51 people, across all four exposed apartment buildings, were displaced and needed assistance to find housing, according to the Fire Department.

    Neighbors had previously raised concerns to Councilmember Eunissess Hernandez’s office and the Los Angeles Police Department of the construction site that had been abandoned since the end of 2022. The following year, neighbors continued to voice concerns of several squatters living on the site.

    Police officials previously told nearby resident Katie Antonsson, a former Los Angeles Times audience engagement analyst, that because she doesn’t own the property, she has no say over who can and cannot be on it, so police could not assist her.

    She was instead recommended to file a report with the city’s Building and Safety Department. Antonsson filed a report two months ago and hasn’t gotten a response.

    Anyone with information is urged to call major crimes detectives at (213) 486-7260. During nonbusiness hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to (877) 527-3247. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477 or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org.

    Lastly, tipsters may also download the “P-3 Tips” mobile application and select the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers as their local program.

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    Karen Garcia

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  • Baby girl found dead outdoors near LAX

    Baby girl found dead outdoors near LAX

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    A 1-year-old girl was found dead Friday morning near Los Angeles International Airport, officials said.

    Personnel from the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the area of South Sepulveda Boulevard and West Century Boulevard, near the entrance to the airport, just before 9:40 a.m. for a reported medical emergency.

    Emergency personnel found the infant, who was not breathing, and tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate her.

    The 1-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The incident remains under investigation, but police officials said they had found “nothing nefarious” as of Friday evening.

    Police did not say whether the child was with family, caretakers or alone when she was found.

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    Christian Martinez

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  • Los Angeles police searching for assailant in three fatal shootings of homeless people

    Los Angeles police searching for assailant in three fatal shootings of homeless people

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    Los Angeles police have launched a search for a killer suspected of fatally shooting three homeless people in separate incidents around the city, police officials announced Friday.

    All three killings occurred in the early morning hours over a three-day span in November, Police Chief Michel Moore said at an afternoon news conference at police headquarters downtown, where he was joined by Dist. Atty. George Gascón and Mayor Karen Bass.

    “This is a killer preying on the unhoused,” Bass said.

    The first victim was shot about 3:10 am. on Nov. 26 in an alley near the intersection of 110th Street and Vermont Avenue in South L.A., police said. The man, identified by police as Jose Bolanos, 37, was found dead with a gunshot wound.

    The following day, Mark Diggs, 62, was shot and killed about 4:45 a.m. in the 600 block of Mateo Street. Moore said Diggs was pushing a shopping cart and had stopped to plug in his phone and was about to go to sleep when the assailant approached him and shot him.

    The third shooting occurred on Nov. 29 about 2:30 a.m. near the intersection of Avenue 18 and Pasadena Avenue in the Lincoln Heights area, where the body of a 52-year-old adult Latino man was discovered.

    Los Angeles police are seeking help to find a suspect and a vehicle possibly involved in the death of three people.

    (Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Police Department)

    Police did not identify the victim pending notification of his family.

    Moore said in all three instances the victims were alone and out in the open.

    “Each one was shot and killed as they slept” or were preparing to turn in for the night, Moore said.

    Moore said the department has set up a task force of investigators that is working 24/7 to apprehend the killer.

    Bass urged the city’s homeless residents not to sleep alone and to seek available services. She said homeless outreach workers have been informing those living on the street about the killings and the search for the killer.

    “To the person responsible for this, I say this: We will find you, we will catch you and you will be held accountable.”

    “An assault on one of us is an assault on all of us,” Gascón said.

    Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.

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    Ruben Vives

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