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December 7, 2023|Anita Johnson-Brown, Editor|The Los Angeles News
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Northridge Train vs Pedestrian
On December 6, 2023, at 6:05 pm a man in his 50s was killed after being struck by a train in the Northridge area of Los Angeles.
The incident was reported to have occurred at 8900 N Corbin Avenue
Firefighter medics assess the man, only to discover he was beyond medical assistance. The scene has been handed over to the LAPD and the Medical Examiner investigation.
Punch and Flee suspect still at Large, Assualt captured on Video
CALABASAS-A male victim in his 60s who was pushing his 10-month-old granddaughter in a stroller was punched by a suspect on Tuesday in Calabasas.
Authorities say another attack occurred minutes thereafter that involved the same suspect and a third victim.
The first attack occurred shortly before 5 p.m. in the 4000 block of Lost Springs Road, just west of Lost Hills Road, sending both victims to the ground in a disturbing incident that was captured on surveillance video.
The footage, recorded by a surveillance camera mounted on a nearby home, shows the suspect walking up to the grandfather and punching him in the face, knocking the man to the pavement, and overturning the stroller onto its side.
The assailant then strolls over to a minivan parked in a nearby driveway, enters the vehicle, and drives and exits the scene as the grandfather struggles to his feet. The child nor the victim was seriously injured
A spokesman for the Sheriff's Department said minutes later, a boy was assaulted on a bicycle trail near Las Virgenes Road.
There has been no update on the extent of the boy's injuries.
The suspect has not been apprehended. His automobile is described as a silver Honda Odyssey with Nevada license plate number 183W80 and visual damage on the passenger side.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Detective Parks of the sheriff's Malibu/Lost Hills station at (818) 878-1808.
TV Producer Norman Lear died at 101
HOLLYWOOD — Legendary television producer Norman Lear, 101, of shows including "The Jeffersons," "All in the Family," and "Maude," passed away on Tuesday, a spokesperson for his family announced.
According to spokesperson Lara Bergthold, Lear passed while sleeping, he was surrounded by family at his residence in Los Angeles.
Lear leaves behind his current wife, Lyn Davis; their son Benjamin, daughters Brianna and Madeline; a daughter from his first marriage to Charlotte Rosen, Ellen; two daughters from his second marriage to Frances Loeb, Kate, and Maggie; and four grandkids.
Westchester Behavioral Emergency
A person was rescued by LAFD 2023, at 2:33 am, on the WB 105 Fwy x W Imperial Hwy.
The victim was coached down safely and is with LAWA PD. and land crews. No further information is available at this tie
HydePark Structure Fire Knocked Down
Thirty-two firefighters knocked out a fire in a two-story four-plex with heavy fire in one first-floor apartment.
The fire occurred at 4719 S 8th Avenue on December 4 and was extinguished at 1:59 pm.
One individual with a minor medical complaint whose age, name, and gender were not released was assessed by medics on the scene and did not require transport to the hospital. No other injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
South Los Angeles Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Recruiting Teenage Girls for Commercial Sex Work and Sex Trafficking an Adult
LOS ANGELES – On December 7, A man from South Los Angeles was sentenced to life in federal prison for recruiting and luring teenage girls for whom he acted as a “pimp” and providing them with commercial sex employment.
32-year-old Donavin Dwayne Bradford was sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt, who at Thursday's hearing defined Bradford’s activities as “inexcusable” and “horrific.” Judge Kronstadt also ordered Bradford to pay $67,000 in restitution and an additional $900 in special assessments.
Read the full story below.
After a five-day trial, a jury on April 17 found Bradford guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking with a minor, three counts of sex trafficking of a minor, three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor to produce a sexually explicit visual depiction, one count of possession of child pornography, and one count of sex trafficking through threats of force, fraud, or coercion.
From the summer of 2021 to February 2022, Bradford conspired with Layla Kalani Valdivia, 24, of Ventura, to cause one of the minor victims – a then-15-year-old girl – to be used for commercial sex acts. Bradford recruited the victim to work for him as a commercial sex worker. As the victim’s “pimp,” Bradford expected the girl to earn him $1,000 per night.
Bradford and Valdivia advertised the girl for commercial sex work on various websites, and customers who responded to the ads were directed to various hotels and motels where they engaged in commercial sex acts with the victim. Sometimes the minor victim would be required to perform sex acts with Valdivia and a sex client together. Customers paid Bradford for “dates” with the victim or she would be required to give Bradford or Valdivia her earnings.
Bradford assaulted the minor victim when she tried to stop working for him on two separate occasions. Bradford also filmed himself engaging in sex acts on two separate occasions with her.
From March 2021 to November 2021, Bradford recruited and enticed two other girls – ages 16 and 17 – to engage in commercial sex activity.
From May 2021 to August 2022, Bradford also recruited and sex trafficked an adult victim through threats of force, fraud, or coercion, including multiple instances of violence.
Bradford and Valdivia have been in federal custody since August 2022.
“Bradford sex trafficked at least three minor girls and used threats of force and coercion to traffic a young adult – all for his own profit,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “To control his victims, he beat and berated them, pointed a gun in at least one victim’s face, intimidated them by referring to his gang membership, filmed himself having sex with them, took their money, and destroyed their property when they dared to leave him. With at least one victim, he took her earnings from sex customers as well as her financial aid from school.”
Valdivia pleaded guilty in December 2022 to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor and one count of sex trafficking of a minor and is serving a federal prison sentence.
The FBI Los Angeles Field Office and the FBI Los Angeles Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force coordinated with multiple law enforcement partners and thanks them for their participation and assistance, including the Los Angeles Police Department; the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; the Inglewood Police Department; the Pomona Police Department; the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office; the Santa Maria Police Department; the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services; and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Assistant United States Attorneys Chelsea Norell and Kathy Yu of the Violent and Organized Crime Section prosecuted this case.
“Operation Cross Country,” an FBI-led nationwide effort that ran in August 2022, focused on identifying and locating victims of sex trafficking and investigating and arresting individuals and criminal enterprises involved in both child sex trafficking and human trafficking.
Punch and Flee Assault Suspect Arrested
CALABASAS- A 14-year-old teen male, who was hit by an assailant talks about what occurred after he was attacked in Calabasas by a male suspect who investigators say also punched a grandfather in his 60s minutes before.
The suspect, identified as Angel Sanchez Jr., hit a grandfather who was pushing his grandchild in a stroller on Lost Springs Road, according to the sheriff's department. The attack was captured on surveillance video.
As we reported in the original story, Video footage of the attack reveals an assaulter hitting a man who was pushing his 10-month-old granddaughter in a stroller in Calabasas.
Minutes later, the 14-year-old boy identified as Nathan Manyara, who talked with ABC7 news on Wednesday evening, was attacked on a bike path near Agoura Road while en route to his boxing gym.
Manyari said, "He kept grabbing the back of my shirt, and hitting the back of my head,". "There was a couple of people jogging and he said, 'Hey, can you stop that guy real quick,' I asked him, 'Who?' He just didn't answer and just walked away." Manyari went on to say
"He grabbed my collarbone area, pulled me back, tried hitting the back of my head and kneeing my face, too,". "I protected myself. My lip got a little busted. He just walked away after that, and I just ran to my gym because I saw my coach." Coach Gift Davis said he " ran down to see if the man was there, and the man was gone.
Suspect, Sanchez was arrested Wednesday in Oxnard and was booked at the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station for assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, said detectives.
Anyone with information about both incidents is asked to call Detective Parks of the sheriff's Malibu/Lost Hills station at (818) 878-1808.
December 7, 2023, |Anita Johnson-Brown, Editor|The Los Angeles News
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