41 LA sheriff's deputies linked to gang-like groups
LOS ANGELES — The top watchdog for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has identified more than 40 alleged members of gang-like groups of deputies that operate out of two sheriff's stations.
In a letter Monday, Inspector General Max Huntsman said his office has compiled a partial list that includes 11 deputies who allegedly belong to the Banditos, which operate out of the East L.A. sheriff's station, and 30 alleged Executioners from the Compton sheriff's station.
He wrote that the list is based on information gleaned from investigations conducted by the Sheriff's Department. Huntsman did not name the deputies and said his office has identified additional possible members from other sources.
What has previously been known about the secretive groups has often been stitched together from allegations and testimony in lawsuits.
The Sheriff's Department has long faced allegations that the groups run roughshod over several stations, controlling commanders and glorifying aggressive policing tactics.
The inspector general's new figures add to a growing body of information about the groups, which have existed in the Sheriff's Department for decades. Members typically get matching tattoos and go by names such as the Grim Reapers and Jump Out Boys.
—Los Angeles Times
Details emerge on woman's fatal plunge from drawbridge
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — As a 79-year-old woman lost her grip and plunged from a rising drawbridge, the bridge tender now charged in her death appeared to be oblivious to the chaos right outside her window.
She was texting with her supervisor about somebody having a case of pinkeye.
Other text messages reveal that the bridge tender was told what to reveal to police about the tragedy — and then to delete the incriminating texts.
Investigative police reports of time-stamped text messages and surveillance video footage of the scene provide new details about the death of Carol Wright, 79, of West Palm Beach, and the arrest on manslaughter with culpable negligence charges of bridge tender Artissua Paulk, of Greenacres. Paulk was released on Friday after posting a $20,000 bond.
Just after 1 p.m. on Feb. 6, Wright repeatedly yelled for help as the Royal Park Bridge connecting Palm Beach to West Palm Beach started to open, lifting her skyward.
Each time a bridge is opened for passing boats, bridge tenders are required to leave their tower and walk around the balcony three times to visually inspect that the movable part of the bridge is cleared before it is opened. Records show Paulk did not do that even once when the bridge was lifted with Wright on it.
—South Florida Sun Sentinel
Putin foe Navalny sentenced to 9 years after new conviction
A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny to nine years in a high-security prison, according to Interfax, in a ruling that will keep President Vladimir Putin’s top critic sidelined amid a harsh crackdown on the opposition.
Navalny, who is currently serving a two-and-a-half year sentence that the European Court of Human Rights called politically motivated, dismissed the legitimacy of the proceedings and used his appearances during the trial to denounce Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which has plunged Russia into economic crisis and international isolation.
“It’s the duty of every person now to oppose this war,” Navalny told the court in his final statement. The attack on Ukraine will result in “our country’s collapse and disintegration,” he said.
Navalny, who was set to be released next year, could now be transfered to a more remote penal colony that will make it harder for him to maintain contact with supporters, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter Monday.
Judge Margarita Kotova of Moscow’s Lefortovo court read the sentence that found Navalny guilty of fraud and contempt, Interfax reported from the trial. Prosecutors had sought 13 years in prison.
—Bloomberg News
LA County gas tops $6 a gallon as nation's prices drop
LOS ANGELES — Pain at the pump in California continued Tuesday, as the average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline in Los Angeles County exceeded $6 a gallon even as the average price nationwide continues to drop.
In L.A., the average cost of $6.01 per gallon topped California's average of $5.86 and the nationwide average of $4.24, according to the American Automobile Association.
Neighboring Southern California counties aren't far behind, with the average price of a gallon of regular-grade gas in Orange County at $5.97, in Ventura County at $5.95, in San Bernardino County at $5.90 and in Riverside County at $5.88.
The average price of a gallon of gas in L.A. County topped $5 for the first time less than a month ago — on March 3.
Across the nation, the average gas price peaked at $4.33 per gallon on March 11 and has since dropped 9 cents.
The California average continues to steadily increase, and the gap between county and state prices has also widened, from 1.2% at the beginning of March to 2.6% as of Tuesday.
—Los Angeles Times
