Tag: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

MALIBU—On February 20, at approximately 8:15 a.m. Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputies responded to a call in the 28300 block of Rey De Copas Ln. Officers arrived at the scene to a woman barricaded in her home. The Special Enforcement Bureau, and the Special Negotiations Team have been called in for what has turned out to be an hour-long stand-off between the suspect and police.

Special Enforcement Bureau Lieutenant, David Archer posted the following information on Nixle:

“Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) personnel are responding to assist Malibu/Lost Hills Station with a barricaded suspect…

SEB Personnel will assume tactical command and Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) will attempt to make contact with the suspect to bring this to a peaceful resolution.”

LASD updated the information on their Nixle account informing the public that the woman surrendered by 3:30 p.m.

“The suspect surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident. The area is deemed safe, and all neighborhood evacuees are allowed to return to their homes,” LASD stated.

No further information, name or description of the suspect has been released at this time. Police did not release the suspects name or what may have prompted the standoff.

Anyone with more information is encouraged to call the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Malibu/Lost Hills Station at (818)878-1808 or call Crimestoppers at (800)222-TIPS (8477)

By Sharon

SANTA MONICA—On Thursday, September 14, Ramon Alberto Escobar, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was charged and arraigned in the strangulation death of his cellmate, Juan Villanueva on February 24 at North Kern State Prison located at 2737 W Cecil Ave, in Delano.

Villanueva was serving a life without parole sentence for aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 14.

In May of 2022, Escobar was sentenced in a Los Angeles County court to two life sentences without parole after pleading guilty to the 2018 murders of Branden Rideout, 24, and Kelvin Williams, 25, of Los Angeles on September 16th, Steven Cruze, 39, of San Gabriel, and Jorge Martinez, 63, of Santa Monica. Escobar received an additional 124 years added to his prison sentence for previous crimes committed in Los Angeles.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Inmate Locator, on May 6, 2022, Escobar was transported to the state penitentiary in Kern County.

On November 12, 2018, Canyon News reported on a complaint filed against Escobar. At age 47, police reports indicated that Ramon Alberto Escobar was facing four counts of murder, eight counts of attempted murder and six counts of second-degree robbery. Escobar is now listed as a serial killer.

In a November 2018 press conference, Los Angeles Police Department Captain William Hayes indicated that Escobar had been known to randomly take a bat and beat individuals living in homelessness. This is what happened to Branden Rideout and Kelvin Williams. They were both severely beaten by Escobar and later succumbed to their injuries while in the hospital.

Escobar struck a plea deal by also pleading guilty to the murders of his aunt, Dina Escobar, and Uncle Rogelio, “Roy,” Escobar of Houston, TX. The suspect was interviewed by police within days of their initial disappearance. The suspect initially denied seeing his aunt and uncle on their reported death dates of August 24th or August 28th. Reports indicate he then traveled out of state to Santa Monica, California soon after this interview.

Texas is a death penalty state. In California, the number of murders he was found guilty of committing, could have also made him eligible for the death penalty under special circumstances. In his plea bargain, the death penalty was taken off the table when Escobar pleaded guilty to killing his aunt and uncle in California rather than Texas.

Multiple reports indicate that Ramon Alberto Escobar had been deported six times prior to these murder convictions. Now, at 52, Escobar faces a new murder charge, this one occurring within the prison.

By Sharon

BEVERLY HILLS—On August 30, the Beverly Hills Police Department arrested two individuals detained by store security in the 9600 block of Wilshire Boulevard after stealing large quantities of clothing. A third suspect initially fled the scene, but was cornered by police and taken into custody.

Reports indicate that at least two unidentified individuals entered one of the clothing stores at approximately 6:30 p.m., taking a large amount of clothing and were confronted by store security who called authorities.

Two 17 year-olds, and one 15 year-old were taken into custody. Their identities cannot be released due to their age.

The BHPD, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department all responded to the call.

Anyone with more details on the case is asked to call BHPD Watch Commander at 310-285-2125 or to use the BHPD alert system at beverlyhills.org/BHPD alert or sign up by texting BHPDALERT to 888-777.

By Sharon

WEST HOLLYWOOD—On Sunday, August 27, at approximately 9:15 p.m., residents of WeHo Heights reported people trespassing on their property. In a letter published on Wehoville, one of the members of the neighborhood association gave details on the incident.

Elyse Eisenberg, Chair, WeHo Heights NA, indicated four young men with knapsacks on the front and back of them were caught on surveillance cameras coming up the stairs. The noise was enough to stir the neighbors, who scared them off before the police arrived.

According to the letter this is the sixth incident in the last two months in just the Horn Plaza area. Eisenberg was requesting patrol in the area.

According to the CrimeMapping site for the area, the following crimes have taken place nearby the the WEHO Sheriff’s Department: 

On August 26, at approximately 12:30 a.m. an aggravated assault took place in the 6000 block of Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood.

On August 23, at 10:00 p.m. a burglary (entry of structure w/intent to commit theft or a felony) INCLUDES VESSELS, LASD reported.

On August 22, a strong arm robbery took place in the 600 block of Robertson Blvd.

In addition to the three crimes listed above there were two other petty theft crimes reported to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as well. They were listed as Department Store Thefts.

By Sharon

SANTA MONICA—On June 2, just before midnight, the Santa Monica Police Department responded to a 9-1-1 call at the intersection of 26th Street and Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica from a witness to a traffic collision with injuries.

A Volkswagen Jetta left the roadway and struck a pedestrian sitting on the bus stop bench. Police determined that the driver, John Edward Alevizos, 35, of Los Angeles was driving under the influence of alcohol.

Officers arriving at the scene discovered a 19-year-old victim with traumatic injuries to both legs. He was transported to UCLA Medical Center where he has been listed in critical condition.

Alevizos was arrested for drunk driving. Due to the condition of the victim, Alevizos was apprehended and booked into jail on a felony DUI charge.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Inmate Locator, Alevizos was booked into jail at the SMPD on June 6, at 1:54 a.m. on a $100,000 bail.  

His court date was scheduled for June 6, at 8:30 a.m. at the LAX Superior Court on 11707 La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles.  No further information is known at this time.

By Sharon

WEST HOLLYWOOD—The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is seeking information about a driver who struck three pedestrians in a crosswalk on Sunday, May 7. Three people were transported to the hospital, two sustaining minor injuries.

The incident occurred at 2:59 a.m. at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and North San Vicente Boulevard following an altercation between the driver and a man in the crosswalk.

Dashcam footage submitted to FOX 11 News by a witness, Anton Strubchevskyi, shows a man in the crosswalk hitting the rear windshield of the suspect’s vehicle. The driver circled back through oncoming traffic from the left turn lane before hitting the pedestrians. One person is seen still clinging to the hood of the car as the driver speeds off. The driver left the scene heading west on Santa Monica Boulevard before turning north onto Hillsdale Avenue.

In a special bulletin released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the car is described as a silver Mini Cooper, having an unknown license plate, black bonnet stripes, and black wheels. The vehicle is also missing the front driver’s side quarter panel and has a damaged rear windshield. The suspect is facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

By Paige Strickland