Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Teen Kidnapped at Green Line Station, Sexually Assaulted

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is turning to the public to ask for help in locating a suspect in the kidnapping and sexual assault of a teenage girl that took place this weekend at the Green Line station in Hawthorne, according to LA Now.
The 14-year-old victim was grabbed at around 9 p.m. Saturday as she was "walking up a stairwell at the station in the 11900 block of South Crenshaw Boulevard." The suspect took the girl by force to a vehicle parked downstairs. The LASD says the suspect "drove for about 10 minutes, parked in an alley and forced her to go inside a townhouse with him, where he sexually assaulted her and attempted to rape her." She was able to get away and reported the incident to the authorities.
The suspect is "described as black, about 6 feet tall and 300 pounds, in his mid-30s with black hair and brown eyes. He had tattoos, including one on his neck that read 'Lil Big Mo' and a tribal band on his right bicep." The vehicle used to transport the victim is a "a red 1990s four-door compact littered with trash and food and smelling of cigarettes."
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.

-
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars.
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.