Crime alerts for West Hills, Chinatown and 14 other L.A. neighborhoods

Crime reports are up significantly in 16 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of the latest week of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times’ Crime L.A. database.

Seven neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. West Hills (A) was the most unusual, recording five reports compared with a weekly average of 0.9 over the last three months.

Chinatown (H) topped the list of 10 neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded nine property crimes compared with its weekly average of 3.9 over the last three months.

One neighborhood triggered alerts for both violent and property crime.

Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for Jan. 17–Jan. 23, the most recent seven days for which data are available.

Efforts to right L.A.'s finances highlight March ballot

In better times, Los Angeles city elections have served as vehicles for leaders' ambitious ideas — from expanding the city's solar energy capacity to building more than two dozen new libraries. This spring's contest testifies to an era in which city leaders cannot afford new promises and are having trouble keeping ones already made.

The times are most clearly reflected in a series of measures on the March 8 ballot aimed at putting the city's finances on firmer ground.

Parolee arrested on suspicion of making threats against Diane Watson

A 41-year-old South Los Angeles parolee was arrested early Friday in connection with a series of recent phone calls threatening to kill retired U.S. Rep. Diane Watson, authorities said.

Sheron Nelson was arrested in South L.A. at the office of his parole agent, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

Gang member sentenced to life for fatal shooting in Anaheim

An Orange County gang member was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the  2006 shooting death of an unarmed man on an Anaheim street, prosecutors said.

Sergio Martinez, 33, of Stanton was convicted in November of murder and related crimes in the shooting of Julio Flores, 30, a gardener gunned down on June 26, 2006, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Reader Comment: Homicide Report

2 people found dead at Stanton motel

Orange County sheriff’s deputies on Friday were investigating the suspicious deaths of a man whose body was found in a Stanton motel room and a woman whose body was found in a vehicle parked outside.

The grisly discovery at the Motel 6 near the intersection of Katella and Western avenues is either a murder-suicide or double homicide, said Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino.

Paroled sex offender gets 5 years for molesting girl on bus in O.C.

A paroled sex offender was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for molesting a 14-year-old girl as she rode on a public bus with friends, according to the Orange County district attorney's office.

James Edward Norkin, 50, had earlier pleaded guilty to three felony counts of lewd acts on a child.

Claremont man is arrested in mailings of powdery substance to DCFS offices

A Claremont man was arrested Friday on suspicion of sending threatening letters containing a powdery substance to the Department of Children and Family Services and the Los Angeles County children's courthouse, officials said.

Martin Calvin Yarbrough, 48, was taken into custody without incident by the FBI and the United States Postal Inspection Service at his home.

Trial set for gang member accused of killing woman at Cypress cafe

A capital murder trial is scheduled to begin Monday for an Asian street gang member accused of shooting a Cerritos woman to death and attempting to kill six others in a Cypress restaurant, authorities said Friday.

Stephenson Choi Kim, 31, of San Gabriel is accused of killing Venus Hyun, 22, at the Fifth Wave Cafe in Cypress in 2004 while shed dined with friends. Kim's trial will be in Santa Ana.

Ex-Pasadena hospital construction chief arrested in alleged $3-million kickback scheme

A former construction director for Pasadena’s Huntington Memorial Hospital was arrested Friday on federal mail fraud charges connected to an alleged kickback scheme that brought him more than $3 million in illegal payments.

David Hamedany, 54, oversaw a massive hospital rebuilding from 2006 to June 2010, during which he had authority to enter into contracts and approve various invoices for the hospital.

Los Angeles City Council votes to sue school police officer accused of falsely triggering expensive manhunt

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to file a lawsuit against the school police officer accused of making up a story about being shot by an assailant near El Camino High School, triggering a vast and expensive police manhunt.

The council unanimously passed an emergency motion to demand that Jeffrey Stenroos, an eight-year veteran of the Los Angeles Unified School District police force, reimburse the city for the costs of the search, which involved not only the Los Angeles Police Department but city traffic officers, the county Sheriff's Department, the California Highway Patrol and the FBI, among others.

Alleged police shooting hoax is reminder of earlier case of 'hero' cop turned bomb suspect

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, at a press conference Friday to discuss the arrest of a school police officer for falsely claiming to be shot, cited an earlier case with some similarities.

It occurred in 1984 and centered on LAPD Officer Jimmy Pearson, who was accused and later pleaded guilty to planting a bomb-type device on a bus carrying the luggage of a Turkish Olympic team.

Pearl Harbor veteran at center of elder abuse case remains in VA hospital

Arnold Bauer, a 93-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor and possible elder abuse victim, remains in the Veterans Affairs hospital in La Jolla, receiving care for several serious medical issues.

Bauer was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after authorities found him disoriented and living in filth in his home outside El Cajon. His caretaker was arrested on charges of elder abuse, theft, forgery and false imprisonment and remains in jail on $1-million bail.

Pasadena hit-and-run kills woman in wheelchair

 Pasadena police searched Friday for one of the drivers involved in a hit-and-run accident in which a woman in a motorized wheelchair was killed.

The 52-year-old woman, who was killed Thursday night on North Fair Oaks Avenue, lived in a nearby convalescent hospital, said Lt. Chris Russ of the Pasadena Police Department.

Officer's story of being shot was inconsistent from the beginning, Chief Beck says

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said there were early questions about Los Angeles School Police Department officer Jeff Stenroos' claims that an assailant shot him outside El Camino Real High School last week.

"There were some inconsistencies that emerged early on," Beck said Friday. "It was just recently that we were able to get accurate information."

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck says he doesn't expect an Arizona-style immigration law in L.A.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck thrust himself into the debate over policing and immigration this week by reemphasizing that his department does not stop people based on their immigration status.

Beck participated in Spanish-language public service announcements with consuls general from Mexico and five Central American countries to drive home the message.

Cerritos man allegedly killed friend from South Korea

A Cerritos man was to be arraigned Friday on charges of murdering his childhood friend visiting from South Korea, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Beong Kwun Cho, 51, is accused of shooting 50-year-old Weon Woo Lee, whom he had known since kindergarten, Tuesday night with a shot to the back of the head.

Wife seeks $34 million from Newport Beach after husband hangs himself in jail

A Newport Beach woman is seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages from the city, claiming police erroneously arrested her husband who had bipolar disorder. Her husband then killed himself in jail.

Sandy Wedgeworth, 34, and family members filed four claims against Newport Beach this week seeking upward of $34 million for emotional distress, loss of a husband and father, and loss of future earnings.

Flashback: Atlanta Police Seek to Solve Slayings of Black Youths

Jan. 28, 1981: Lee Manual Gooch, 15, is missing four days after the discovery of the strangled body of Terry Lorenzo Pue, the 14th black child to be killed  in Atlanta in 1 1/2 years, The Times says. Freelance photographer Wayne B. Williams will be arrested in June on suspicion of killing as many as 28 victims between 1979 and 1981. Williams was convicted on two counts of murder in February 1982.

Serial killer Rodney Alcala faces charges in New York slayings

For nearly 30 years, authorities believed Rodney Alcala was a brutal killer who had abducted and killed a 12-year-old girl in an Orange County beach town in 1979. Then, after gathering other evidence, they tied him to the rape and murder of four Los Angeles County women in the late 1970s.

Now, authorities say, they're ready to take him to New York and try him for two other long-ago murders.