When police arrived last night to a call, the suspect was standing in the middle of the street holding a handgun. Luckily, no struggle occurred. Unfortunately, moments before it was not so good:Two women and a 4-year-old girl were killed and two other children were wounded in a shooting Monday night in a Baldwin Park neighborhood, police said. The slayings occurred after a man argued with his mother and then shot her with a handgun,......

Photo by WishByNight via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The neighborhood lock-down in Glassell Park is over after an earlier shoot-out involving police left one dead and other suspects unaccounted for throughout the afternoon. Skateland in Northridge is turning 50! Time to call up the extended family and ask them if they have any good memories of this classic Valley fun zone. (Because my family is FROM here. Babies.) What's with all......

In Sunday's wee hours, an unusual car chase took place on our local freeways, between the LA County Sheriff and a Vons big rig. According to the San Jose Mercury News:Officials say the hourlong pursuit began when LA County Sheriff's deputies responded to a report that a big rig was weaving. Sheriff's Sergeant Dan Raimo says the driver failed to yield and headed onto Highway 101. The big rig eventually stopped near Cerritos and......

At 11:13 p.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department alerted of a small helicopter has crashed at the southbound 110 Freeway and Century Blvd. One person was dead on board the fiery crash. Fire officials are describing it as a "small, private type, possibly home made type" aircraft. "The Federal Aviation Administration and California Highway Patrol would investigate the cause of the accident.," reports the LA Times. "The Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County......

Despite having returned back to his post just two weeks ago, today Orange County's beleagured Sheriff Michael Carona, announced his retirement from the job on the Department's blog. Carona is entwined in a mess of legal troubles that extend to include his wife and his mistress, Deborah Carona and Debra Hoffman, respectively, in its web. His previous hiatus took place under the auspices of him working on his case on federal corruption charges, in which......

As the second wave of the massive storm system that wailed on the area last night approaches, here are some updates on conditions and storm-related happenings:We have the power: CBS2.com reports that "Power has been restored Saturday to 31,000 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers who lost service" due to the rainstorm. A quarter of the outages were located in the San Fernando valley. Some customers, including a few hundred in OC with......

Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17-year-old Northridge girl who died two weeks ago because her health care provider denied funding of a liver transplant, was buried yesterday. $151 million: That's the amount in salary and benefits that the The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers say that writers have lost since the beginning of the strike. $10.64: The new minimum wage or "so-called living wage" for workers at hotels near LAX. More than a 1,000......

L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. just announced that Mischa Barton was pulled over at 2:46AM this morning while driving in the 900 block of north La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood. According to the police report, her vehicle was seen "straddling two lanes of traffic and failed to signal when making a turn." And what's "straddling two lanes of traffic" code for? Driving drunk. Once it was determined that she was "under the influence of an......

Yesterday, a 26-year-old man stole a Los Angeles County Sheriffs (LASD) patrol car for unknown reasons, leading a car chase that ended in the San Diego area. The chase ended on the southbound I-5:Regino Aguilar, 26, got out of the car after the chase but didn't comply with officers' orders, said San Diego police Lt. Kevin Rooney. He then got back in the car and "was literally trying to pull the shotgun out of its......

LAist Featured Photos contributer Jonathan Alcorn caught this scene in Compton on Saturday: "In an effort to reduce violence, 156 guns were collected by Los Angeles County Sheriff's representatives in Compton during the first three days of an annual exchange program, officials said today. People turning in guns to sheriff's personnel receive $50 gift cards for use at Best Buy, Home Depot, Ralphs or Target. Gift cards worth $100 were given for each of......

Even Flat Stanley pays his Orange Line fare. The Daily News has an idea. We're not so much into it, but here is how it goes. While Metro contracts with LA County Sheriff's, the LAPD has a man who knows something about enforcing ticketless travelers on transit systems and he happens to be top cop Chief William Bratton. Some will remember that he became famous for his "broken windows" theory that enforced smaller crimes......

Last week's devastating Agua Dulce/Santa Clarita Valley wildfire was started accidentally by a "male juvenile" playing with matches, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department announced Tuesday. The Buckweed Fire blackened over 38,000 acres, destroyed more than 60 structures, and led to an estimated $7.4 million in damages. On October 22, one day after the blaze began, a detective questioned a "boy" who "admitted to playing with matches and accidentally starting the fire," according to the Sheriff's......

LAist began the month with a new food series exploring the popular and unknown late night eats around town. If a Top Chef winner opened up a late night spot in Los Angeles, denizens would flock it, yet the LA Times and other media might be wary. Turning to sports, the Dodger season was quite memorable in the way that it imploded and the LA County Sheriff's Department made some games of their own......

Believe it or not but there's not a lot of hiking happening with many of us here at LAist. Sure there's Zach and a few other show-offs, but even they could tell you that if you start lacing up your hiking boots and notice someone stretching with a freaking sword, things will probably not end well. Such was the case yesterday afternoon up in Mt. Baldy when three "friends" got into an argument while......

Taylor Karras was reported missing by his mother yesterday, after running away from a Westminster social services facility where he was receiving therapy for autism. Around 9:30 p.m., the 15-year-old boy was found just a block from his North Tustin home. Orange County Sheriff's deputies spotted Karras pushing a shopping cart in the street, chased him on foot, Tasered him once, and handcuffed him. Only when a passing neighbor recognized Karras did the authorities......

The MTA will be testing a new 65-foot-long prototype bus - which can hold up to 131 sitting and standing passengers - on the Orange Line busway for one year starting this week. Nicely done: L.A. City Councilman Richard Alarcon drafted a measure 2 months ago that would've drastically reduced traffic congestion on one block of one street in Panorama City - namely the one where his house is located. Who's down with Gov.......

At least a camel is much more entertaining and inspiring than Patch Adams. The crusty, cynical journalist in me cringes when I see Press Releases like the one I received promoting an event over the weekend. It said members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Reserves were bringing a camel and a horse to visit with pediatric at Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA on Saturday. Maybe it's part of Mayor Tony Fatigue Syndrome, (who mugs for......

It's hard to find a good Wookiee these days, so LAPD is looking for a naughty one. A Chewbacca impersonator allegedly sexually assaulted a Marilyn Monroe look-alike near Hollywood and Highland last month, though the crime was just reported yesterday. When authorities showed up to investigate, the suspect fled. Police are presumably looking for a man who is tall, dark, and hairy. There has been no comment from LA County Sheriff Lee Baca, who may......

In the wake of the most recent King-Harbor tragedy, where concerned witnesses called Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department 9-1-1 to report that the medical staff was doing nothing about a woman dying on the floor of the hospital, only to be told that 9-1-1 would not dispatch any help, comes a plan by the LAPD to improve their handling of 9-1-1 calls. Yesterday officials told the L.A. Police Commission that they were beginning to......

In a deft version of doublespeak, LA County Sheriff Lee Baca spoke out of both sides of his mouth today as he prepped the press and paps about what they can expect when Paris Hilton goes to jail on Tuesday. In one breath Baca said that Paris will be treated like any other inmate at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood, saying that her food will be the same as the other women's......

"In support of Bike to Work Day, Thursday, May 17th, cyclists ride free on Metro and on other participating transit agencies listed below." said Metro's website. "Board with your bike or helmet and enjoy the ride… it’s on us!" According to many cyclists including this LAist writer, it was sometimes a fight to get that free ride. Many cyclists at the Rally told stories of them informing the bus driver that they get to......

Do we need to say much more than that to give you a "ha!" and an "uhhhhh?" at the same time (now this should be the definition of interrobang)? Supposedly, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's were in the midst of a training exercise that included this bag of dummy explosives. But someone who wasn't supposed to get to them, got to them first and stole it. Metro stopped the Gold and Red Lines before hitting......

Expect delays between 6 a.m. and noon on Saturday: On Saturday morning, April 28, transit patrons utilizing Union Station between 6 a.m. and noon are advised that they may experience service delays of 15 minutes or longer on inbound and outbound rail and bus services due to a scheduled joint security training exercise.Union Station transit operators, including the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), Metrolink and Amtrak, will join the Los Angeles County......

This dog delivers beer! Click here to find out how. Photo by C-Monster. Larry Birkhead to World: I told you so! Sleazy paparazzo beats off human parasite, fake prince, former bodyguard and clump of seaweed to prove he's Anna-Nicole's baby-daddy. -TMZ Howard Stern cozies up to Birkhead, says Papa Larry can spend as much time as he wants with little Mealticketlynn. World's #1 Mom Virgie Arthur expected to sue for custory. -TMZ MSNBC punishes......

-- 15 teams of sheriff's deputies and undercovers nabbed 58 people across Southern California Saturday on suspicion of providing alcohol to minors. It was the was the largest one-day "hey mister / shoulder tap" sting operation in state history. - MyFoxLA.com. -- A wildfire north of Anaheim charred 2,000+ acres and threatened homes. It's still burning, as is a smaller fire near Corona. Do your best to not burn down your neighborhood -- it's hot,......

Oprah's favorite weight loss doctors, Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz, would be proud of Los Angeles this weekend. In their most recent book, You: On A Diet, they say you should walk thirty minutes every day no matter what. "No excuses. It doesn't matter if you do this in one whole block or broken up into as many as three shorter sessions." Inspired by Franklin Ave's Wilshire Walk, Will Campbell from Metroblogging Los Angeles......

#46 St. Augustine Motherhood Maternity agreed to settle lawsuits with would-be employees who were not hired because they were pregnant, and with a woman who was fired when she was suspected to be pregnant - Miami Herald #47 Palm Beach County's violence reminds some of Miami in the 70s & 80s: "Today, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says we are on the cusp of becoming another Miami. The gang names have changed —......

-- Survivor announces that the tribes for the next season on Cook Island will be set up into four different "races" (Black, Asian, White, Latino) which causes no controversy; the fact that 9 of the 20 participants are from LA does. - Reality Blurred -- LA city workers who were on strike today for the second day in a row did not flinch when Mayor Tony accused the movement of losing steam, they claim......

No donuts for five officers and 14 others caught in a home-robbery scheme that lasted for more than two years. The nineteen posed as cops conducting raids; the crew was led by former LAPD officer and Golden Gloves boxer Ruben Palomares. Thomas O'Brien, head of the criminal division for the U.S. attorney's office in LA, told the LA TImes, "While this story sounds like a script from 'The Shield' or 'Training Day,' it actually......

"My Scooby-Doo detectives are looking closely into that." -- Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sergeant Philip Brooks, on some details that didn't add up in Stefan Eriksson's story about a mysterious stranger named "Dietrich," whom Eriksson alleges was the one driving when his Ferrari crashed in Malibu this week.......