Suspicious Package Shuts Down Parts Of Warner Center
Daily News (and not Nixle) writes:
Police were checking out what they called a possible ’suspicious package’ near the intersection of Burbank Boulevard and Owensmouth Avenue in Woodland Hills around 10 a.m. Monday, authorities said.
The incident closed down the intersection near the Warner Gateway corporate park, barring workers from reaching or leaving their offices. Eastbound Burbank Boulevard traffic is being rerouted to Topanga Canyon Boulevard.
LAPD’s bomb squad was on its way to the scene to examine an unattended bag left near a bus stop at the intersection’s southeast corner, said LAPD spokesman Officer Kevin Maiberger. Police got the call about the bag at 9:43 a.m., he said.
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Detailed Daily News Article From Yesterday’s Best Buy Shooting
I find it cool that Daily News linked to my blog in the right hand media/reference bar on this article. General consensus seems to be he fired at officers and they shot him. Article mentions bullet holes visible in the walls of the Best Buy, but I drove by today and didn’t see them – however I wasn’t really looking. I did take some pictures, which I will review later. I have previous pictures of the external facade of the Best Buy and there are defects in the tile that appear to be bullet damage that were already there weeks ago.
CANOGA PARK — A man who fled to the San Fernando Valley Monday after allegedly killing his estranged wife in Long Beach was shot and killed by LAPD officers outside Best Buy, sending customers and employees scurrying for cover inside the giant electronics store.
The 11 a.m. shooting in front of the Canoga Park electronics store ended a manhunt that began three hours earlier in Long Beach, where the the suspect allegedly shot his wife in the head in a parking lot after abducting her from a nearby apartment.
The couple’s 2-year-old son was found in the apartment with a family member.
Police said the suspect, identified as Donovan Morris and in his 30s, drove to Woodland Hills to meet with an uncle. The uncle phoned authorities after Morris told him he had “killed his family,” said LAPD Lt. Dave Storaker.
Morris then left the Woodland Hills home in the 6600 block of Glade Avenue and made his way to the Best Buy at Victory Boulevard and Owensmouth Avenue.
It is unclear why Morris went to the store or what exactly happened when he got there. Some reports said Morris held a gun to his head, while witnesses at the scene said he engaged police in a brief firefight in front of the entrance to the store.
Shopper Tim Coyle, 33, of Winnetka said he was in the store getting his daughter’s laptop fixed when he heard police shouting outside.
“All of a sudden they (police) yelled `Shut the doors! Shut the doors!’ Then I hear gunshots,” Coyle said, adding a number of customers dove to the floor.
Coyle, who described himself as a gun aficionado, said he heard multiple gunshots from the suspect’s weapon as well as shots from police officers.
He said the customers were taken into a security room inside the building for safety.
Multiple shell casings and a handgun could be seen on the ground where the suspect’s body had lain and bullet holes peppered a wall of the building. The busy stretch of Victory boulevard was roped off to drivers and pedestrians for nearly three hours as officers scoured the crime scene.
Please visit the Daily News site to read the rest of this article.
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Violence Clearly On Rise In Los Angeles, And Spilling Into Valley
Yesterday was the biggest day ever, as far as I can tell, for the Hills of Woodland site, with over 1,200 visitors and almost 50 new Facebook “likes” for the site’s FB page. At least something good comes from this time of madness; people actually pay attention to what’s going on around them.
What’s also interesting, I feel, is all of the comments on this site and our Facebook page from people who lived here and left saying, “Wow this place has gone to ****.” I don’t think that is true, but it does seem that some people are becoming increasingly desperate and violence is the result.
That being said, there was a good recap of an excruciatingly violent week in Los Angeles on the LA Times’ site today.
Homicide Report: 20 killings last week in L.A. County, 3 in Long Beach
Coroner’s officials reported 20 killings between May 4 and early Monday, bringing the year-to-date total to 242, according to data collected for the Times’ Homicide Report database.
The total was more than double the previous week and included several shootings that left two or more people dead. At least 19 involved guns. The cause of death in the most recent case, involving an unidentified Latino believed to be 25 to 30, was not immediately available.
At least four homicides were tied to family issues. Authorities said Diane Newlander, 73, was shot to death by her husband in Beverly Hills in an apparent murder-suicide.
Three members of one family in Hawaiian Gardens, a father, daughter and son, were gunned down in their home by the daughter’s ex-boyfriend. Joseph Mercado, 26, was charged Monday with three counts of murder in Los Angeles Superior Court. Authorities allege he went room by room targeting the mother of his child and her family. Mercado was shot and wounded by a sheriff’s deputy as he left the home about 4 a.m. May 6.
The city of Long Beach experienced three homicides over the week, all possibly gang-related, according to police. The three killings do not including the shooting death Monday of a woman on Ocean Boulevard in what authorities called a family dispute.
Lee Kinikini, 25, was shot to death Tuesday, May 4, in the 700 block of Harding Street, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.
Officers responded to reports of gunfire shortly before 5 p.m. and discovered Kinikini’s body with gunshot wounds to his upper body. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The preliminary investigation found that Kinikini was standing in a driveway when he was approached by an unknown suspect and shot several times, police said. The assailant was last seen fleeing south down a nearby alley on foot.
Joshua Gaither, 30, died Wednesday, May 5, in the 2100 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, coroner’s officials said.
Police found Gaither on the sidewalk suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper and lower body in the early morning hours. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
And Mauricio Sotelo, 20, was shot to death Thursday, May 6, on the corner of 14th Street and Cedar Avenue, according to the coroner’s office.
Police responded to a shooting call about 1:11 a.m and found Sotelo suffering from a gunshot wound to his torso. Sotelo was taken to a hospital, where he later died, police said.
Investigators have neither a suspect nor a motive in the case.
The Times’ Homicide Report provides an interactive map and database of all homicides in Los Angeles County reported by the coroner since Jan. 1, 2007.
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Warrant’s Jani Lane Arrested This Evening In Woodland Hills
Jani Lane chats it up with Firefighters before cops arrive and arrest him. (Photo courtesy Laurie M.)
Looks like local resident and chronic mess Jani Lane is in trouble with the law again.
LAPD arrested Lane in Woodland Hills, CA this evening.
Police sources tell us Lane was driving a black Infiniti sedan when he allegedly hit a parked car. Officers arrived on the scene and gave Lane a field sobriety test — we’re told he did not do well and was arrested. Lane’s car is pretty mangled, but there were no injuries reported.
According to sources, Lane blew more than twice the legal limit of .08 when officers gave him a breathalyzer test at the police station.
Lane pleaded no contest to misdemeanor DUI in July 2009. A hit-and-run charge was dropped as part of that plea deal, and the judge put him on probation for three years.
Bonus fact: We’re told Jani was arrested today by the same cop who arrested him last summer. Go figure.
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LA Trying To Shift Sidewalk Repair Bill To Home & Business Owners
I’m not sure why the title of the KTLA article is Woodland Hills focused, because the proposed changes are not.
WOODLAND HILLS — The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday is considering a plan to pass on all the costs for Woodland Hills sidewalk repair to homeowners.
And according to some Woodland Hills residents, that would not only cost them as much as $5,000 but shift liability to homeowners for trip-and-fall incidents on sidewalks, likely raising homeowner insurance premiums.
Traditionally, the city would pick up the tab for repairing the walkway because the offending trees were planted by the city on a public easement.
Given the tough budget times, the City Council will consider repealing a 1974 ordinance that required the city to pay for sidewalk repairs caused by root damage from trees the city planted on its easements.
City Council Budget Chairman Bernard Parks is spearheading the new plan.
He says the city should not have been footing the bill these past few years.
Parks said the city had accepted responsibility for the repairs to curbs, driveways and sidewalks if the damage was caused by tree roots because its costs were reimbursed by the federal government. “When that money dried up, the city never changed its policy of being responsible,” Parks said. “In the last seven years, the city has spent over $100 million to repair over 500 miles of sidewalk and not made a dent in the sidewalk issue.”
Neighborhood councils and local realtors will fight the plan.
They say the transfer of responsibility for sidewalk repairs to homeowners would be unfair and could harm any real estate upswing.
Parks said the city annually pays out between $4 million and $6 million in damages for injuries caused by uneven sidewalks.
The councilman also says the cost of repairing the estimated 4,600 miles of city sidewalk could cost Los Angeles $1.2 billion – almost twice the budget deficit.
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Woodland Hills’ El Camino Real High School Wins National Academic Decathlon
Sorry for being a little late to the dance on this, but for those of you who didn’t already hear, El Camino Real High School won the National Academic Decathlon in Omaha, Nebraska last week. Awesome, congratulations!
Powerhouse El Camino Real High School clinched the National Academic Decathlon title here Saturday, marking its record-setting sixth U.S. victory.
The Woodland Hills school’s triumph was no accident. The team had been preparing for eight intense months with a level of detail that was evident even in their luggage.
When they arrived at the championship in Omaha last week, the coaches’ suitcases were stuffed with supplies for every conceivable emergency — stain sticks, lint rollers, painkillers and pantyhose, three shades of nail polish and neckties in eight colors. No soiled shirts or runs in stockings would imperil their team’s chances.
They left Omaha lugging a different kind of load — trophies, medals and other spoils from their championship victory.
The win further bolsters California’s dominance in the competition. It was the state’s eighth consecutive national title and its 17th since the competition began in 1982.
Please see the rest of the LA Times article here.
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Jesse James Mistress/Homewrecker Brigitte Daguerre Of Woodland Hills Claims She’s Not a Homewrecker
Apparently, one of Jesse James “mistresses” is a woman named Brigitte Daguerre of Woodland Hills.
MonstersAndCritics.com writes:
Brigitte Daguerre has spoken out about her relationship with Jesse James – despite promising to maintain a vow of silence.
The 43-year-old model revealed how she met Sandra Bullock’s husband at his burger joint and bonded with him over a love of cars, motorbikes and clothes.
But she hit back at critics who have branded her a ‘home wrecker’ – and claimed she did not realise James was married until it was too late.
“I think it’s very unfair to call any woman a home wrecker in that situation because the only one who can wreck the home situation is the married person. It’s their responsibility,” she said.
“I wasn’t sure if he was married or not. I really didn’t know what the situation was. I decided to be curious and see what happened and where it took me.
“When I was uncomfortable and realized it wasn’t the right situation for me I stopped and stayed home – simple as that.”
Miss Daguerre, who lives in Woodland Hills, California, with her four dogs, says she met James in 2008 through friends – not through the social networking site MySpace.
Read the rest of the article here.
See some not safe for work (well, unless you work at a brothel or at West Coast Choppers) images of the homewrecker Brigitte Daguerre here.
I love people who say they don’t want attention but then run out and do media interviews. I think this is a two step process, first you let it leak out that you are one of the sluts mistresses, and act all humble and used, then you cash in and dor the for pay inteviews.
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