Los Angeles News Blog

Talk about your cops and robbers. Police say a man with a badge and wearing "plain clothes" has been approaching victims cop-like and shaking them down for cash. They say the man is not a real cop, but rather an impersonator.

LAPD

​

A scary one at that. He's walked up to victims in the late morning and early afternoon and, real officer-like, revealed a badge clipped to a gun belt, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He patted them down under the guise of a "pedestrian stop" investigation only to pocket valuables including cash and entire wallets.

We'd love to see the "what just happened" look on the victims' faces, but the fact is this guy needs to get got, and with the department's robbery detectives on the case, he probably will go down. (For a little primer on what happens when the LAPD focuses its resources on robbers at large, read this). The suspect is described as a 35- to 45-year-old Latino, 6 feet tall, weighing 230 pounds, and often wearing a dark, polo-style shirt and blue jeans.

In between solving a $500 million budget shortfall, choosing a new Los Angeles Police Department chief and making sure those potholes get filled, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa found time to appear on this week's season finale of Bravo's Project Runway.

Bravo

​

They had a little fun with the city's political leader, letting him ramble about the inherent greatness of L.A. while cutting away to focus on chatter among the designer contestants. When the camera returns to Mayor V, he's still talking, this time about how the city of Angels is something of a fashion capital.

Villaraigosa was in his element among the gleaming white architecture of the Getty Center. He's a natural among celebs and a favorite with the Westside's industry elite, who largely supported his candidacy. But did he have to wear so much makeup? Shots of hizzoner clearly show him donning some serious lipstick.

A man who was fatally stabbed on October 31 died of his injuries. According to police, the victim, who is believed to be around 30 years old, was stabbed multiple times after a verbal argument around 2:30 a.m. near Figueroa Street and Piedmont Avenue.

View Larger Map
The victim was taken to a nearby hospital where he died four days later on November 3. Anyone with information should contact Northeast division detectives at 213-847-4261.

A man was shot by Los Angeles Police Department officers in an exchange of gunfire after a short pursuit earlier this week. Julian Nolasco, 25, died the following day on November 4 in a nearby hospital.

View Larger Map
According to police reports, Nolasco, who was carrying a handgun, was wounded about 10 a.m. Tuesday on Avalon Boulevard near 59th Place, but he stayed inside the car for about two hours as Special Weapons and Tactics team officers surrounded him. Police apparently tried to stop the car, which they believed was stolen, a few blocks earlier. Two men got out and were nabbed by police. But the driver took off. The shooting occurred a few minutes later. No police officers were wounded in the early morning exchange. Nolasco was shot multiple times.

Neon Tommy, the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism publication, has been rebuffed by several counties in California in its attempt to obtain records of swine flu deaths.

Neon Tommy

​

Only after some persistence did Los Angeles County allow the USC journalists to take a peek at its H1N1-related death certificates. The result? According to Neon Tommy 57 people have died in L.A. since the latest outbreak of swine flu in April, including 13 people since early October.

The USC journalists found that in many cases the county had not informed family members of the potential H1N1 cause of death. County officials told the publication that it wasn't their responsibility to notify relatives that the swine flu was near and that it had taken out a loved one.

In his third town hall meeting in as many nights, Los Angeles Police Department chief designee Charlie Beck established some distance between himself and his mentor, former Chief Bill Bratton.

Charlie Beck is establishing some distance between himself and mentor Bill Bratton.

​
Beck, responding to a question Thursday night at El Sereno Senior Center about how he would distinguish himself from the mighty Bratton, said, "Bill Bratton was the right chief when he was selected in 2002 ... but we're not that point right now."

Beck was the top choice of Bratton, the star chief who helped reduce the city's crime rate by more than half. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has been parading Beck in front of the public all week in anticipation of his city council approval next week, credited Bratton with helping reduce city crime to levels not seen since the mid-1950s.

One of the most eerie things to emerge from the LA Weekly Investigation into "Chaos in the Casitas" is this grainy security surveillance tape made at a popular taco truck near Florence and Normandie showing B-Girl Rosa Garcia just a few hours before she was murdered.

In the tape you can clearly see a Latino man wearing a tape measure on his belt and the light is glinting off the tape measure. Garcia's body was found several hours later in a nearby alley with a measuring tape laying close by. Police are seeking information about the Latino man who stood chatting with Garcia at the taco stand the night she died. Anyone with information about Garcia's murder should contact 77th Division Homicide Detective Bill Ritch at 213-485-1385.

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the deaths of a married couple who were found dead inside their home on November 2. The deaths of Craig and Donna Edwards are being investigated as a murder suicide.

View Larger Map
According to police reports, patrol officers were called to the 7900 block of McLaren Avenue, near Fallbrook Avenue around 10 a.m. after coworkers discovered the bodies of 66-year-old Donna Edwards and her 62-year-old husband. The coworkers had apparently become concerned after Donna failed to show up for work. The coworkers went to her home and began checking with neighbors, one of which had a key to the Edwards' home. In the home, they found Donna in the master bedroom. She had been shot to death. Her husband was dead on the kitchen floor. It is unclear how Craig Edwards died. Several weapons were recovered from the house, and detectives are still investigating the motive for this incident. Anyone with information should call Topanga division detectives at 818-756-4820.

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the deaths of a married couple who were found dead inside their home on November 2. The deaths of Craig and Donna Edwards are being investigated as a murder suicide.

View Larger Map
According to police reports, patrol officers were called to the 7900 block of McLaren Avenue, near Fallbrook Avenue around 10 a.m. after coworkers discovered the bodies of 66-year-old Donna Edwards and her 62-year-old husband. The coworkers had apparently become concerned after Donna failed to show up for work. The coworkers went to her home and began checking with neighbors, one of which had a key to the Edwards' home. In the home, they found Donna in the master bedroom. She had been shot to death. Her husband was dead on the kitchen floor. It is unclear how Craig Edwards died. Several weapons were recovered from the house, and detectives are still investigating the motive for this incident. Anyone with information should call Topanga division detectives at 818-756-4820.

First, Conan, and now Oprah? Entertainment industry journalist Nikki Finke is reporting that Oprah Winfrey could be moving from her base of Chicago to Los Angeles to be closer to the home of her OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) channel, which would carry her namesake show in 2011.

oprah.com

John Trav-olta! Er, no. Oprah. And she might be coming to L.A.

​

Finke reports that Discover Networks is demanding Winfrey include her trademark daytime talk show as part of the OWN lineup, which is being rolled out in cooperation with Discover.

It's a risky move, as The Oprah Winfrey Show is a cash cow that gives the entertainment mogul mass influence over the buying, reading and movie-going habits of millions of viewers. It also makes her arguably the highest paid person of television (alongside the likes of Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane). But she has threatened in the past to retire.