Tag Archives: LAPD

LAPD Pursuit Travels Through Burbank Rush Hour Traffic

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A wild rush hour police chase went through the streets of Burbank on Monday afternoon around 4:40 p.m. before ending after a crash on Buena Visa Street.

Los Angeles Police prepare to take a pursuit suspect into custody on Buena Vista south of Clark St. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

LAPD officers received a report of a van driving erratically  in the vicinity of he Whiteman Airport in Pacoima.   Reportedly, the driver’s employer, American Solar Direct, suspecting that the man was possibly driving a company van under the influence, called police.  The slow speed pursuit started and proceeded through Sun Valley.   During the pursuit,  before coming into Burbank, police deployed a spike strip that flattened the right front tire of the van.  The driver did not stop, and the tire eventually separated from the rim on Glenoaks Blvd. near Keystone St.  He continued driving on the rim for a some miles on Burbank streets.

The chase led LAPD officers through the streets of Burbank as they headed southbound on Glenoaks.  Near the intersection of Glenoaks and Olive the van sideswiped one vehicle, causing some minor damage. The van continued down Glenoaks before going westbound on Alameda.  The chase then proceeded down Alameda as it passed in front of the Disney Studios before turning northbound on Buena Vista.

LAPD chases a suspected DUI suspect southbound Glenoaks at Magnolia Monday evening (Photo By John Savageau)

Once on Buena Vista, the van continued past Olive Avenue and Verdugo Avenue.  About mid-way between Verdugo and Clark Ave., the van rear-ended a vehicle that was trying to pull over after the driver saw the red lights of the police cars in his rear view mirror.  The force of the collision spun the man’s car around 180 degrees and up onto the front lawn of a home.  About 100 yards farther north,  the van apparently could go no further.  After a minute or two delay, the driver exited the vehicle under police orders.  He lay face down in the middle of the street as about a dozen LAPD officers trained their weapons on him.  Once officers determined that no one else was in the van, the driver was taken into custody without further incident.   He was identified as Albert Stokes.

The driver of the vehicle that was struck,  Nestoro Layumas of Sherman Oaks, was shaken up a bit after receiving a slight bump to his head, but did not require medical attention.  Stokes appeared to be uninjured when he taken into custody. He is facing possible felony evading charges.

A  crowd gathered at the end of the pursuit, as it had been televised live on the newscasts by helicopters from channels 7 and 9.  A half-dozen news helicopters and one fixed-wing aircraft were in the sky high above the area, while the LAPD helicopter circled low over the scene.

Buena Vista was shut down in both directions while the suspect was taken into custody.  Southbound lanes reopened about 20 minutes later at 5:15 p.m., and northbound lanes were opened after the investigation at the scene was concluded shortly before 7 p.m.

Nestoro Layumas of Sherman Oaks waits to talk to police after being rear-ended on Buena Vista just north of Verdugo. (Photo By Stan Lynch)

Los Angeles Police Officers take pursuit suspect into custody. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

Los Angles Police Officers take a look at the damage that was caused following a hit and run accident on Buena Vista south of Clark St. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

Los Angeles Police standby with a victim of a hit & run following a pursuit that left this car damaged and sitting on a front lawn on Buena Vista, north of Verdugo. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

The bumper sticker asks “How’s My Driving”….No Comment (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

 

 

Laser Pointed At Jet Plane And Police Helicopter

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An 18 year-old man from North Hollywood was arrested Thursday night, after a private jet making a landing at Bob Hope Airport, and a police helicopter looking for the suspect, were hit with a laser.

The incident began when a Cessna Citation twin-engine private jet was landing on the East/West runway at Bob Hope Airport.  The pilots were hit with a laser as they were on close final approach, about a half-mile from the runway.  When the plane arrived at Million Air, 2800 N. Clybourn Ave., they flagged down an Airport Police officer and reported the incident.

The Airport police contacted the Burbank Police Department.   The Burbank Police helicopter was not in service, but the Pasadena Police Department’s PD-One helicopter was on patrol and responded, as did an airship from the Los Angeles Police Department.    While in the area west of the airport in North Hollywood, the Pasadena helicopter was also hit by a laser being pointed at them from the ground.  Using their high-tech radar system, the officers on board the helicopter were able to lock onto the location and pinpoint a house where the laser was coming from.    The pilot and observer apparently escaped injury.  Lasers pointed at aircraft can temporarily blind a pilot, and can cause serious eye injury.

Ground units from the Airport, Burbank, and Los Angeles Police Departments converged on the 6400 block of Bakman Ave.  The suspect’s location is just north of Victory Blvd., and one block east of Tujunga Ave. in North Hollywood.  The area is just south of the landing pattern for the airport.   Airport Police officers contacted the residents of the home that the helicopter had pinpointed.   The 18 year-old son of the home’s owners admitted to officers that he was the one pointing the laser.   Officers confiscated a laser and booked it into evidence.

The unidentified teen was placed under arrest, and taken to the LAPD’s North Hollywood Station for booking.  Pointing a laser at an aircraft is a felony, and as of January 1, of this year, it is also a federal crime.

On March 20 a drill was held at Bob Hope Airport with the cause of the faked crash being a laser which blinded the pilots during the landing (Photo By Ross A. Benson)

This incident bears a chillingly eerie similarity to the scenario used in the Emergency Exercise that was held at Bob Hope Airport on March 20.  In the drill, a passenger jet is on close final approach to the runway, when someone on the ground shines a laser at the plane, blinding the pilots.  The plane makes a hard landing, partially collapsing the nose gear, and causing the plane to veer off the runway and crashing into a construction site before exploding and bursting into flames.  In the drill, 15 people are killed and 50 injured.   In the real thing Thursday night, Airport Police report that no one was injured

 

Note:   Ross A. Benson contributed to the writing of this story.

SWAT Team Looks For Barricaded Suspect

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Buena Vista Library was used as a base of operations for LAPD SWAT during an incident late Friday night. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

Nearby residents were evacuated from their homes, and traffice was diverted along a section of Olive Ave. Friday night, while police dealt with a barricaded suspect situation.

Los Angeles Police Department detectives came to the 2200 block of W. Olive Ave. in search of a suspect wanted for assault with a deadly weapon.  The crime had occurred earlier in the day in North Hollywood.  The suspect was believed to be living in an apartment located on the north side of Olive Ave. between Myers and Lincoln Streets.   The Burbank Police Department was contacted at 8:40 p.m. to assist the LAPD detectives.

The LAPD SWAT team was called when the detectives believed the suspect was barricaded inside the apartment.  When they knocked on the his door, he did not anser.  Burbank Police assisted by diverting traffic on Olive Ave. away from the area, and evacuate nearby residents.  After numerous attempts were made to contact any occupants of the suspect, SWAT officers made entry, and determined that the suspect had fled prior to the officers’ arrival.

The nearby Buena Vista Library was used for evacuted residents,  and also as the base for their SWAT operations.   A mobile command post was set up in the library’s parking lot.  Per the Burbank Police only a few people were asked to leave the adjoining apartments with four staying at the library and one couple going to a local coffee shop.

Once the LAPD determined that the suspect   was not home,  the streets in the area were re-opened.  Residents were able to return home around 4:00 am.

 UPDATE:   The suspect being sought by the LAPD for assault with a deadly weapon, Erik Jan Peterson, 43, of Burbank,  was located by police in a small industrial park located just a block outside of Burbank.  The block-long single story multiple unit industrial building is located on the south side of the Chandler Bikeway, between Biloxi and Strohm Avenues in North Hollywood.  Peterson was spotted in one of the units Saturday afternoon. The LAPD used one of their armored vehicles to drag away a covered carport continaing some recreational vehicles, to get a better view of the unit’s entrance.  Tear gas was used to finally flush the Peterson out of the building.   He  apparently suffered self-inflicted wounds, and was transported by LAFD ambulance to the hospital.

Military Ordinance Found At Burbank House During Warrent Search

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Wednesday morning, at 7:00 a.m., officers from the Los Angeles Police Department served a search warrant, in the 600 block of East Fairmount Road, in the City of Burbank. During the execution of the search warrant, the officers discovered a military ordinance.

As a safety precaution, several residents immediately surrounding the house were evacuated. The evacuation lasted about two and one-half hours, at which time they were allowed to return to their houses.

The Los Angeles Police Department Bomb Squad responded, examined the device, determined the device to be inert, and rendered it safe. Burbank police officers provided traffic control during the incident but were not actively involved in the search warrant.

There were no injuries to anyone involved in the incident and at this time  no arrests made at the time of this incident.