Author: CaliNews

Jaye Sanford, a 52-year-old mother of two, was driving home in suburban Atlanta on Nov. 21 when a man in a Dodge Challenger muscle car who was allegedly street racing crashed into her head-on, killing her. She is one of the many victims of a surge in street racing that has taken root across America during the coronavirus pandemic, prompting police crackdowns and bills aimed at harsher punishments. Experts say TV shows and movies glorifying street racing had already fueled interest in recent years. Then shutdowns associated with the pandemic cleared normally clogged highways as commuters worked from home. Those with a passion for fast cars often had time to modify them, and to show them off, said Tami Eggleston, a sports psychologist who participates in legal drag racing. “With COVID, when we were separated from people, I think people sort of bonded in their interest groups,” said Eggleston, who is also the provost of McKendree University, a small college in suburban St. Louis. “So that need to want to socialize and be around other people brought the racers out.” But people have been killed…

Nine people were wounded Thursday evening in Rhode Island’s capital in what police there believe to be the largest shooting in city history. Of the nine, three had serious injuries and were “maybe critical,” Providence Police Chief Col. Hugh T. Clements told reporters at the scene. He said multiple guns were used and it involved an “ongoing feud” involving two groups known to authorities. He said the shooting began with gunfire emanating from a vehicle, targeting a home. A person or people inside the home then returned fire. He described the participants as “young men.” The shooting took place just before 7 p.m. in the southeastern neighborhood of Washington Park, which Clements described as a typically quiet neighborhood. Clements said an estimated several dozen shots were fired. Evidence markers showing where more than a dozen shell casings littered the ground could be seen in the distance. Police sealed off the area. No arrests have been made. Clements stressed the investigation was in its early stages. Detectives were at the hospital interviewing the victims, who are between the ages of 19 and 25. Further details about…

A man seen in a Montclair neighborhood peeping into a home and allegedly making suggestive comments to a child Wednesday afternoon has been arrested, officials said.  Jesus Mendez-Ramirez, 23, was located in the 4400 block of Holt Avenue in Pomona at around 3 a.m. Thursday and arrested on unrelated charges, according to the Montclair Police Department. The peeping incident occurred around 12:50 p.m. Wednesday when Raylene Atilano says she was changing her 2-year-old daughter’s diaper and noticed Mendez-Ramirez looking in through her window. Atilano became startled and notified her brother, who then went outside to confront him. Mendez-Ramirez left the home and walked across the street where a 9-year-old was walking, according to a report from the Montclair Police Department. He had his shirt off and was making flirtatious movements, waving his shirt above his head and telling the child to go with him to his home, the report said.  Several witnesses saw what was happening, including the child’s parent who was able to get a photo of the man identified as Mendez-Ramirez.  “I’m upset, I’m very angry,” Atilano said, “I don’t want any little…

People who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need to wear masks in most places, the CDC suggested. But in California, it may be a week or more before changes would be considered locally.

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — When the pandemic hit, 24-year-old Jesus Morales was let go from his job. Through his TikTok channel, 24-year-old Jesus Morales has given out more than $96,000 to unsuspecting street vendors. (Source: Jesus Morales/TikTok) “I was working at a gym, and of course all the gyms shut down because of COVID,” he said. “So I wasn’t working, and I just had all this time on my hands.” He used that time to start creating original content on the social media platform TikTok. His videos quickly gained attention and the views started mounting, but Morales said he was still missing something. “Honestly, I just felt like I wasn’t enjoying it, and it almost felt like a forced kind of thing,” he said. “It was around that time where I came across two different TikTok users that kind of inspired me to take my platform and shift it into a different direction.” Morales decided to take his popularity on the platform and turn it into good. “I knew that I wanted to do more for the Latino community,” he said. “I started doing more…

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Dashcam video captured a man robbing and assaulting a grandfather at gunpoint in South El Monte, while he was stopped at a gas station on his Lyft route. Paul Liao, 67, was working as a Lyft driver Monday night when the suspect jumped into his car. The incident was captured on the dashcam that he had just purchased two months prior. Liao was robbed at gunpoint at an Arco station at Rosemead Boulevard and Rush Street in South El Monte. “I was very scared,” said Liao. “Very scared.” The suspect slid into his backseat after Liao said he had just finished washing his car and was waiting for his next ride. Liao suffered a bloody nose from where the robber hit him twice before taking off. “He used the gun to hit my face,” said Liao. In the video, the suspect grabs Liao’s phone then forces him to hand over more than $1,500 in cash. Liao’s daughter-in-law Christine Ting says he had just earned that money at another job. “He had just gotten paid for doing designated driving services,” she said Thursday.…

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Paul George had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Reggie Jackson added 19 points off the bench on five 3-pointers and the Los Angeles Clippers handed the slumping Charlotte Hornets their fourth loss in the last five games, 113-90 on Thursday night. Los Angeles Clippers guard Paul George (13) is guarded by Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, May 13, 2021. (Jacob Kupferman/AP Photo) Kawhi Leonard had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Clippers, who are jockeying for playoff position in the Western Conference. The Clippers (47-23) remain in third place, one game ahead of the Denver Nuggets with two games remaining. The NBA’s best 3-point shooting team this season lived up to expectations as the Clippers made 21 of 45 shots from beyond the arc. “We have been shooting it great all year,” Leonard said. “I’m just happy guys are being aggressive and making the right play. (The Hornets) were packing the paint and we had a lot of double teams, so once we kicked it out,…

LANCASTER (CBSLA) — A standoff at the end of a pursuit continued Thursday night in Palmdale between Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies with a man suspected of kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon on a deputy. A person suspected of kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon was in a standoff with authorities following a dangerous pursuit. (CBSLA) According to authorities, the pursuit started in the 2000 block of West Avenue H-8 in Lancaster at about 4:50 p.m. and went up into Kern County before returning back to the Lancaster area where the California Highway Patrol took control of the pursuit. The driver of the Prius then got off the 14 Freeway in Palmdale and took the chase to surface streets where a CHP officer was struck by an unsuspecting driver. Following a failed PIT maneuver, the driver of the Prius drove to the Sierra View Gardens apartment complex in Palmdale where two people — a male driver and female passenger — exited the vehicle. The passenger surrendered to LASD deputies and the driver, who was reportedly armed with a shotgun, ran into…