Christine Pelisek

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Gang Ties that Bind: Drew Street Gangsters Linked to Cop Killing

Christine Pelisek
The murder shocked the conscience of a crime-scarred community. The arrest of two suspects showed the far-reaching influence of a notorious street gang.But revelations that one of the two men accused of murdering a young deputy sheriff belonged to an extended family of criminals, presided over by a middle-aged matriarch,......

Ben Stiller Steps In for Shattered Mark Ruffalo

Christine Pelisek
A mystery still surrounds the death of the brother of movie actor Mark Ruffalo. Late this afternoon, the Los Angeles County Coroner reported that the cause of 39-year-old Scott Ruffalo's death is being deferred pending a toxicology report. Those results could take up to eight weeks. Scott Ruffalo, a hair......
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Wild Card Patsaouras Shakes Up Controller's Race

Christine Pelisek
With the March 3, 2009 race for City Controller heating up, and candidates peddling their visions for a more transparent and cost-efficient Los Angeles on their new campaign Web sites, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel promises to "be an independent voice exposing waste, fraud, and abuse in government." She emailed her holiday......
Gina Rios

Sylmar Fire's Lady Looters

Christine Pelisek
AT 6:30 A.M. ON NOVEMBER 15, Rafat Salib was awakened by knocking on his suburban Porter Ranch home. Los Angeles police officers told the father of three to cle...
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Esteban Nunez: Good Boy or Gangbanger?

Christine Pelisek
That's the question explored by Latinopoliticsblog.com (from the "barrio to D.C."). Since former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez's son Esteban and four friends got picked up last week for allegedly stabbing a 22-year-old college student to death in San Diego, his Myspace "EsTeBaN" has predictably disappeared from cyberspace. However, Latinopoliticsblog.com......
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DOES ASSEMBLY SPEAKER'S SON HAVE GANG TIES?

Christine Pelisek
Esteban Nunez, the son of former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez who was arrested in the stabbing death of a 22-year-old college student, may have possible gang ties, according to search warrants released Wednesday. Nunez,19, and three of his friends -- all of whom live in the Sacramento area --......
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DNA "Familial" Search Can't Find Elusive Serial Killer

Christine Pelisek
The Los Angeles Police Department's search for the Grim Sleeper, an extremely elusive serial South L.A. killer, suffered a big blow Tuesday when a long-shot effort to identify the man through DNA "familial" testing came up empty-handed. The existence of the murderer, who is  the longest-operating serial killer West of......

"Familial DNA" Searching May be Key in Finding Serial Killer

Christine Pelisek
The Los Angeles Times reported about how a Denver district attorney pushed California Attorney General Jerry Brown into using "familial DNA" searching to try and catch three Denver rapists whose DNA profiles belonged to felons in Oregon, Arizona and California. According to the Times, Brown initially refused to help catch......

Will L.A. Finally Zero in on Forest of Illegal Billboards?

Christine Pelisek
Almost seven long years after the Los Angeles City Council vowed to find the exact locations and determine the physical condition of the city's virtually unregulated forest of legal and illegal 10,000 billboards, the city's Building and Safety Department says they will begin the long-awaited program on February 1. The......