Andrew Smith

LAPD DUI Checkpoint Location Info Is Back; Silver Lake Hipsters Targeted

We noted in last week's LA Weekly DUI checkpoint cheat sheet that the LAPD wasn't giving us exact locations as it had done for years. We wondered aloud if Chief Charlie Beck's own reservations about giving potential drunks detailed warnings about where his officers would be finally trickled down to ... More >>

2 Sought In Abduction Of Northridge Girl; L.A. Parents Urged To Be Vigilant

Cops were looking for two suspects in the shocking abduction of a Northridge 10-year-old early yesterday, a victim who was held for 12 hours and suffered "very traumatic ... indignities," LAPD Commander Andrew Smith told reporters in an afternoon news conference. Smith seemed to downplay a report i ... More >>

Missing Northridge Girl Apparently Abducted, Attacked

Updated at the bottom: She was found with injuries after she was apparently abducted. Headline has changed. First posted at 3:29 p.m. Lots of people go missing in this mean city, unfortunately, and many do so largely unnoticed. But when a 10-year-old disappeared after she was last seen in her subur ... More >>

Christopher Dorner Shootout Timeline

Although authorities last night wouldn't confirm that Christopher Dorner died in a shootout with authorities near Big Bear yesterday, San Bernardino County Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindi Bachman did say whomever fired at cops was believed to be among the ashes of a burned out cabin. You can read betwe ... More >>

Christopher Dorner Shootout Reported In Big Bear

Updated at the bottom with a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy dead following a shootout, other details. First posted at 1:13 p.m. Authorities were searching for Christopher Dorner after a possible sighting and shootout in Big Bear. Reports, including one from the Associated Press, indicate a ... More >>

L.A.'s Bloody Hit-and-Run Epidemic

The city ignores a crisis of car-as-weapon crime in the streets

#FortHernandez #CouchRaid: LAPD Hauls Off Sofas And Signs From Anti-Foreclosure Encampment

The LAPD showed up in force before dawn this morning at #FortHernandez, the foreclosed Van Nuys house where Occupiers have been camped out since late August.Turns out, the cops didn't come to evict anybody. Instead, they confiscated five couches, impounded a car and took protest signs, desks and oth ... More >>

2C-I, Drug Known as Smiles, in Spotlight After Johnny Lewis Murder Case

Every so often a drug invented by California psychedelic explorer Sasha Shulgin, the Godfather of Ecstasy, escapes the lab and becomes a headache for law enforcement. This is one of those times. Amid reports that actor Johnny Lewis might have been on 2C-I, or "smiles," when he allegedly flipped out ... More >>

Bank Robbery Suspects Toss Cash During Chase, Crowds Form in South L.A. (VIDEO)

Latest updates at the bottom. Another day, another crazy chase. This one had suspects in a Volvo SUV throwing cash out a window. That move apparently drew crowds to the South Los Angeles area near USC where the chase was going around in circles until it came to a stop and alleged bad guys were app ... More >>

5 Essential Back-To-School Food Titles

Summer tomatoes are at their prime, the first fall apples have arrived. Where else but L.A. can you continue to cook your way through the best summer cookbooks by day while starting on those fall reading lists at night? These are the sort of nightcap-worthy books to pull out when you don't quite f ... More >>

Ronald Weekley, Venice Skateboarder, Tackled by LAPD, Punched: VIDEO

Updated at the bottom with police saying Weekley was riding "in traffic." Investigations have been launched. First posted at 6:09 a.m. A friend of 19- 20-year-old college student Ronald Weekley says he was beat up by overzealous LAPD officers in Venice on Saturday. The confrontation was captured on ... More >>

Chalk Walk Protesters Blocked Sidewalks, Rushed Streets During Occupy Art Walk Riot -- LAPD

Occupy LA says its "chalking" demonstrations have been an unofficial part of Art Walk downtown since October, but that the LAPD, for reasons unknown, decided to crackdown with furious anger Thursday. Chalkers who drew "heart the police" and "I love the world" were arrested by ravenous cops in riot ... More >>

Did L.A. Officials Cover Up Manny Figueras' Fatal Mowing Down of Gary Woodford?

Are Los Angeles Police Officers Disrespectful To Senior Citizens? Betty Pleasant Thinks So

Do Los Angeles police officers need sensitivity training for talking with elderly citizens? According to longtime Los Angeles Wave columnist Betty Pleasant, the answer is a resounding "yes!" Pleasant, whom we love for her pull-no-punches journalism, complains in a May 2 column that while the LAPD h ... More >>

FBI/LAPD Task Force Shoots Double Homicide Suspect on a Roof in La Mirada

"What started as a fist fight ended in a deadly shooting that left two men dead," a press release concerning a double homicide back on November 30, 2011 read. Today, a third man, the suspect in the November 30 incident, is also dead--shot on a roof in La Mirada after a tense standoff with the FBI/LA ... More >>

Massive LAPD Security Detail at Oscars Included Bomb-Squad Robot, Forklift

The Academy Awards in the heart of Hollywood make the perfect target for a terrorist. (Or an Occupier.) They're the ultimate symbol of Western culture, celebrating billion-dollar blockbusters and caught up in a media frenzy of nip slips/gown slits. Of this, the LAPD is well aware. Thus the massive ... More >>

1-Year-Old Baby Girl Dead, 5-Year-Old Sister Critical After Mom Allegedly Caught Trying to Drown Them in Bathtub in South L.A.

A 1-year-old girl died and her 5-year-old sister was in critical-but-stable condition after their mother allegedly tried to drown them in a bathtub, according to police and reports. The LAPD stated this afternoon: "LAFD tried to resuscitate both as best as they could and transported to a local hosp ... More >>

Occupy LA: LAPD Investigates Caught-on-Video Arrest of Journalist Calvin Milam

YouTubeMilam's about to charge.​Updated at the bottom: The LAPD has opened an investigation into this case, but a commander disputes Mark Geragos' take on what happened to his client that night. The arrest of a journalist for alleged failure to disperse at Occupy L.A. last month was caught on ... More >>

Occupy L.A. Demonstrators Policed With Help of Private Security Known Downtown as 'The Shirts:' LAPD Says That's Not 'Typical'

YouTubeLAPD gets an assist from purple-shirt-wearing security guards at an Occupy demonstration.​Updated at the bottom with comments from Commander Andrew Smith, who says private security guards often work with police downtown but that a skirmish line with cops might have been out of the ordin ... More >>

Yasha Levine, Soviet 'Exile' And Practicing Journalist, Said to be Among Those Jailed Following LAPD Occupy Raid

Yasha.​Updated at the bottom: We're told he got out this afternoon. A colleague gives us an account of what happened. The L.A. County Sheriff's jail information page has a record of him being in custody. First posted at 12:22 p.m. A journalist who is credited with breaking the news that the b ... More >>

Occupy L.A. Raid: LAPD Moves In To Clear City Hall Camp [Live Video]

​With reporting from Dennis Romero. Occupy this awesome Ted Soqui slideshow of the night's festivities here.Tonight's the night for the LAPD raid of Occupy L.A. Updates from the top. Images and live video after the jump.1:05 p.m. [Wednesday] LAPD Officer Bruce Borihanh says there were 292 tot ... More >>

Occupy L.A. Remains Another Night; Shrinks From Thousands to Hundreds

Ted SoquiOccupiers infesting street on Sunday 27​Occupy L.A. stays untouched Monday night and protesters stay put 30 hours passed the eviction deadline. But unlike Sunday night, which had more than 2,000 occupiers present, the late Monday/early Tuesday population in front of city hall shrunk ... More >>

Occupy L.A. In Standoff With LAPD, As Midnight Eviction Deadline Passes

​Updated at the bottom: A representative of the occupiers filed suit in an attempt to prevent the eviction.  Last updated at 6:48 a.m. First posted at 6:10 a.m.Occupy L.A. continues to hold its ragged patch of ground at City Hall, six hours after a deadline passed for protesters to leave ... More >>

Pavement Occupies L.A.: The Revolution Unfolds (VIDEO) (NSFW)

Sam Slovick in front of his tent at City Hall​Sam Slovick is sleeping down at City Hall to report firsthand on Occupy L.A. For continued coverage, visit SamSlovick.com. "Mic check, mic check," a voice booms from the PA system in front of City Hall in downtown L.A. I move into a tent on the so ... More >>

LAPD Officers Kill Man Wearing Only Boxers In Playa Vista

Local Property IndexThe Crescent Park West condos where LAPD officers shot a man to death this morning​Update: Police say the victim was a Playa Vista resident -- black, in his 30s, about 6 feet tall and 180-200 pounds. He has been identified, but notification of relatives is still pending. Th ... More >>

Reggie Doucet Jr, 25-Year-Old Hollywood Model And College Football Star, Shot To Death By LAPD In Front Of Playa Vista Home

Update: A revised LAPD report says Doucet tried to take the black officer's gun during the fight -- for that, he was immediately killed. Updated after the jump: LAPD officers are out of the hospital -- they were both punched in the head by Doucet. The officer who shot him was a black male who had o ... More >>

Sympathy for the Devil: Crime Stats Say L.A.'s Streets Are Safer Than Ever, So Why Are Gang Hoods Still So Bloody?

Top dogs Da Brat, Zen Baca and Tony V weigh in, along with street players D-Black, Marky-D and Mauricio

Politics Meets Street

Why are politicians and civic leaders bellying up to the eyebrow-raising 740 Club?

The Scourge of Skid Row

A staph infection threatens the lives of cops, firefighters and homeless people. But don’t expect any help from county health officials

Electronica News: A Guide to the Guides