Santa Monica Airport ~ The Hump ~ Santa Monica

Photos courtesy of Jessica Belsky. Read her account of how The Hump sushi restaurant profits from illegal trade in endangered species: www.chewgooder.wordpress.com

A man police are calling the “Rico Suave Bandit” has LA’s billionaires and high society crowd on edge. His smooth ways and charm give him access to enclaves like the Four Seasons Hotel, where last weekend he stole anywhere from “millions” to $45,000 in jewels from Florida sugar baron Pepe Fanjul by pretending to be an employee of the hotel.

This fits in somewhat with his modus operandi, which appears to be to target foreigners who carry jewelery in hotels or other “safe” places. To wit, “Rico Suave” is also suspected of robbing the Staples Center locker room when an Israeli basketball team was in town for an exhibition game, as well as a downtown hotel room used by Chivas Mexico.

In yet another example of how dangerous it can be to walk in LA, The AP reports:

A Swedish hip-hop artist who ran down and killed a man at a Hollywood crosswalk was sentenced Thursday to 15 years to life in state prison. David Moses Jassy, who also uses the name Dave Monopoly, was sentenced in Los Angeles County Superior Court for the Nov. 23, 2008, death of John Osnes.

Judge Michael Johnson denied defense motions for a new trial and to reduce Jassy’s second-degree murder conviction to manslaughter.

“In my mind, there is no question that this is a murder” and Jassy “deserves every bit of punishment,” the judge said.

Defense attorney Alec Rose said he planned to appeal the sentence.

Osnes, a 55-year-old musician and pedestrian activist, banged on the hood of Jassy’s rented sport utility vehicle after it nearly struck him in a Hollywood crosswalk, prosecutors said.

Jassy got out, punched Osnes in the face and then gave him a brutal kick in the head as he bent to pick up his glasses so that he toppled to the ground, prosecutors said.

Copyrights and Campaigns blog reports:

Recently unsealed legal briefs filed by Shepard Fairey reveal that the Los Angeles artist is the “subject” of a federal criminal investigation for “potential violations” of laws prohibiting evidence tampering and perjury. According to a motion filed by Fairey seeking to postpone his deposition in the civil copyright dispute with the Associated Press over the “Obama Hope” poster, a federal grand jury is investigating whether Fairey violated 18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(c) and 1621. Section 1512 makes it a crime to “corruptly…alter[], destroy[], mutilate[], or conceal[] a record, document, or other object, or attempt[] to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding; or…otherwise obstruct[], influence[], or impede[] any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”

The AP believes that this is all just legal flim-flammery by the Fairey legal team and that the Federal investigation has no bearing on their suit against him:

The AP’s basic argument is that Fairey’s troubles are entirely of his own making, and that “[f]or Mr. Fairey now to point to the government’s investigation of his own misconduct as grounds for a discovery extension…is truly the definition of chutzpah.”

Also in the legal brief is information that Fairey’s lawyers believe he will face indictment in the AP case because of his choice to not incriminate himself in the Government case.

And in a rather extraordinary passage, Fairey concedes that he likely faces sanctions in the civil case for his admitted wrongdoing and may face indictment:

Mr. Fairey has already admitted engaging in misconduct and accepts that he will face sanctions by the Court at a later stage of this case. But his error, however serious, should not force him to choose between abandoning his Fifth Amendment rights and forfeiting his right to testify in this civil action and to defend the action on the merits. Of course, the Court can impose sanctions upon Mr. Fairey if it deems them appropriate, and the U.S. Attorney can choose to file criminal charges against him.

“But,” he argues, “the triple punishment of potentially crippling civil liability — based not on the merits, but on his inability to testify during this particular brief period — would be unjust.”

It’s all extremely complicated, and must be costing both parties a shit-ton of money to battle in court over a photograph that was turned into a campaign poster.

Despite rumors to the contrary, it is no great secret that this country’s economy is still hanging low around our ankles, while the great, greasy bankers who face-fucked us into this mess have gleefully returned to sipping hundred-dollar single malts while lovingly smacking their secretaries’ asses with appalling impunity. Feeling a little pissed off? Well you should be, and while your personal ability to enact meaningful financial reform or to frog-march these crooks straight into the Sodomite Wing of the nearest federal penitentiary may be nil, you can vote with your feet. The lovely Ariana Huffington and a few of her cocktail buddies from the Huffington Post have started a Move Your Money movement, urging concerned citizens of all stripes to pull their money out of these usurious, faceless and ultimately destructive mega-institutions and open accounts in smaller, friendlier and decidedly less evil community banks. The website has a zip-code calculator that lists secure, FDIC-insured operations in your area as well as a fun little It’s a Wonderful Life mash-up video that puts a Mr. Potter face on the devils of Wall Street while reminding us that George Baileys do still exist. So what do you say, Taqueños? We don’t chow our carnitas at Taco Bell, why would we bank with its moral equivalents?

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating whether a man arrested in the rape and killing of a Venice woman pregnant with twins might be responsible for other sexual crimes on the Westside.

A 39-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in her apartment in the 1600 block of Electric Avenue late Tuesday night. A 22-year-old man was detained at the location and has been booked on suspicion of murder, police said.

Authorities identified the suspect as Boneetio Kentro Washington of Culver City. He was allegedly spotted running from the house as police responded to a 911 call.

A woman was struck by a crazed “chauffeur” who dragged the body beneath the car for more than a mile, police allege. KTLA reports:

A driver has been arrested after she intentionally struck and killed a woman in downtown Los Angeles, dragging the victim nearly one mile across surface streets, according to police.

The driver, Nancy Lekon, 43 struck Sonia Tauanuu, 25, around 1:00 a.m. Thursday with her black Cadillac limousine, according to LAPD Lt. Jim Gavin.

Lekon kept going after striking Tauanuu, dragging her for nearly a mile along surface streets in skid row. At one point, she drove past the LAPD Central Station on East 6th Street.

The victim was still alive when the police forced the death limo to pull over, but died shortly after. Police believe the dispute between the two was part of a drug deal gone bad.

Sheriff’s detectives in Carson caught nine members of a girls’ tagging crew spray painting graffiti on city property.

The juveniles are all members of a crew called “FM,” and authorities say they’ve been involved in other acts of vandalism.

The city can hold the girls’ parents financially responsible for the damages, according to Det. Dan Starkey. The girls have been placed on six months of probation and will have to perform community service and take classes. They also will be required to give class presentations to other teenagers about the consequences of vandalism.

The Avenues gang, which police say is under direct control of the Mexican Mafia, was the target of a massive police op in the wee hours of the morning today. LA NOW has the full story:

Under the cover of darkness this morning, about 1,200 heavily armed officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and several other agencies launched a major assault on the Avenues gang, hoping to deal a blow to one of Los Angeles’ most notorious criminal groups.

Warrants in hand, teams of officers departed a massive command center in Elysian Park around 3 a.m. and descended on dozens of homes in search of 54 alleged members or associates of the Avenues gang who were wanted on an array of federal charges related to the gang’s extensive drug dealing, unsolved murders and other crimes.

Within hours, 44 of the men and women were in custody, according to LAPD Capt. Kevin McClure, who is overseeing the operation. The others remained at large and are being sought. Among the arrested was Tammy Armstrong, a state corrections officer accused of aiding members of the gang currently incarcerated. Several weapons were also confiscated.

Photo: 1965 Avenue’s Graffiti by Kid Deuce