police officer

LA QUINTA — Briana Ortega had been home for all of three minutes when she heard a fist pounding against her door.

She opened it to find a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy “claiming a black man with dreadlocks had jumped over her backyard fence” and was trying to break into her La Quinta home, according to court records.

Almost immediately, Ortega, 29, suspected Deputy Eric Piscatella was there for other reasons. The encounter last summer wasn’t the first time they’d met. It wasn’t even the first time he’d shown up at her home unannounced, according to an arrest affidavit and claims in a civil lawsuit.

“You look pretty without makeup … sorry I don’t mean to be rude or unprofessional,” Piscatella said, after spending a scant few seconds looking out a window for the purported suspect, according to a recording of the incident.

It was the fourth time in less than a year that Piscatella had either shown up at Ortega’s home or contacted her without a legitimate law enforcement purpose, according to the affidavit and lawsuit. Ortega shared text messages showing the deputy tried to flirt with her and ask her out on dates, but she rebuffed him at every turn.

A former Riverside County sheriff’s deputy is accused in a lawsuit of using law enforcement resources to pursue a woman he met at a public event.

(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)

Last year, Riverside County prosecutors charged Piscatella, 30, with seven counts of illegally using law enforcement databases to look up information about Ortega.

But instead of resolving the situation, Ortega says, the way Piscatella’s case played out in criminal court has only prolonged her ordeal.

Ortega said she remains “terrified” of Piscatella and declined to testify against him. In July, a Riverside County judge downgraded all charges against Piscatella to misdemeanors. He pleaded guilty and received probation, avoiding jail time.

Last month, Ortega filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Piscatella, the department and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a leading Republican candidate in the 2026 governor’s race.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco kicks off his campaign to run for governor at Avila’s Historic 1929 center on Feb. 17 in Riverside.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“I feel like with him getting the misdemeanor, nothing is ever going to change… If it takes me having to [file this lawsuit], I will, if it helps,” she said.

Piscatella declined to comment through his defense attorney.

A spokesperson for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Piscatella resigned last October after roughly five years on the job. His ability to work as a police officer in California is suspended, accreditation records show, but without a felony conviction it could be restored.

Ortega recalled her first run-in with Piscatella as innocent enough.

She was attending what she described as a “family fair,” with her two sons in Coachella in September 2023, enjoying amusement rides and carnival games when she said her oldest son ran up to a group of sheriff’s deputies who were giving out stickers. Piscatella was among them, according to Ortega, who said they had a polite but forgettable conversation.

They did not exchange contact information, but a few months later, in January of 2024, Ortega said, she got a text from an unknown number.

The texter claimed to be her “personal officer.” A fitness influencer with more than 100,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram, Ortega gets random flirtatious messages from men. So she shrugged it off.

That same month, Piscatella searched Ortega’s name and the city of La Quinta in both the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and other sheriff’s databases shortly before the texts were sent, according to court records. In Ortega’s civil suit, she alleged this was how Piscatella tracked her down.

One month later, Piscatella showed up at Ortega’s La Quinta home while she was at work, according to her lawsuit. Her mother answered the door, and was “alarmed” when the deputy questioned where her daughter was. Still, Ortega wasn’t bothered.

“I’m like, he’s a cop, he can’t be that crazy. He’s on the force for a reason … of course he knows where I live,” she said.

Echoing claims in her lawsuit, she added: “I’m not thinking he’s going to continue to look for me or stalk me. If I would have known, I would have complained.”

Ortega was so unfazed that she actually went to Piscatella for help a month later. Her younger sister had been the victim of an assault and was struggling to get attention from the Sheriff’s Department. So Ortega contacted the man who claimed to be her “personal officer.”

But when Ortega began describing the purported crime, Piscatella responded by asking her to send a “selfie” and insisting they should go to the gym together. Annoyed, Ortega eventually changed her number when instead of help, all she got was a picture of Piscatella wearing Sheriff’s Department clothes, according to text messages.

Court records show Piscatella continued to use law enforcement databases to keep tabs on Ortega in the months that followed. In May 2024, he searched her name and ran her license plate, according to court records. He did the same in July, right before showing up at Ortega’s house, claiming he saw the man with dreadlocks break in.

At that point, Piscatella’s interest in Ortega had turned into an “obsession,” according to her lawsuit. Since he arrived just minutes after she’d returned from a trip to San Diego, Ortega said it felt like Piscatella was “waiting for me.” She alleges in her lawsuit that the deputy “used law enforcement resources and databases … to stalk her.”

After letting him in, she surreptitiously recorded the deputy standing in her living room, talking to her children. In the lawsuit, Ortega said she was “confused, scared and uncomfortable,” especially after Piscatella asked for her new number, which she gave him out of “fear.”

Piscatella texted her a short time later, according to messages reviewed by The Times, describing her kids as “so cool.”

“I don’t feel comfortable with everything that just happened. Please do not contact me again,” Ortega wrote back.

Briana Ortega filed a lawsuit alleging that she has been living in fear of a former Riverside County sheriff’s deputy.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

She made a complaint to the Sheriff’s Department the same day. Court records show the department launched an internal investigation and quickly determined Piscatella had used law enforcement databases to look up information on Ortega several times, according to an affidavit seeking a warrant for his arrest.

The affidavit shows there was “no corresponding call for service” related to the day Piscatella showed up at Ortega’s home and claimed someone was breaking in.

Riverside County prosecutors filed seven felony charges against Piscatella.

Ortega said she refused to testify because, even though the Sheriff’s Department had presented a case against one of their own, she feared Piscatella or a fellow deputy might seek retribution against her.

At a July court hearing in Indio, Piscatella made an open plea to the court seeking to downgrade each charge to a misdemeanor and avoid jail time, according to a transcript of the proceeding.

Riverside County Deputy Dist. Atty. Natasha Sorace pleaded with Superior Court Judge Helios J. Hernandez not to accept the lesser charges.

“The defendant was a police officer — a sheriff’s deputy, who used his position of power and the information he had access to as a result of that position to put someone in the community in significant fear for their safety,” Sorace said.

“He searched information — conducted a search about a particular individual and used that information to come up with an excuse to get into that woman’s house, where he proceeded to hit on her and make her feel uncomfortable in her own on home.”

But Hernandez rebuffed her attempts to argue the point further. In his view, “nothing actually happened.”

“He never, like, broke into the house or threatened her,” Hernandez said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Hernandez sentenced Piscatella to probation and community service and ordered him to stay away from Ortega. Records show prosecutors have appealed the decision.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office would not say if Ortega’s refusal to testify affected their ability to bring other charges, including the stalking allegation she made in the civil suit.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s spokesperson declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The entire ordeal left Ortega feeling like law enforcement failed her at every level. She noted that Piscatella still knows where she lives.

While she previously did not hold a negative view of police, now she says she turns the other direction and grows anxious anytime she sees a Sheriff’s Department cruiser.

“It’s a betrayal of trust from law enforcement … who do you call when it’s the police who are the problem?” asked her attorney, Jamal Tooson. “When can you ever feel safe? You almost feel trapped, in your own house.”

Grammy winner Lil Nas X is seeking treatment out of state after his naked run-in with law enforcement last month, according to multiple reports.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Shellie Samuels said during a hearing on Monday that the 26-year-old “Dreamboy” and “Industry Baby” artist “is allowed to remain out of state as long as he remains in treatment,” Rolling Stone reported. The outlet said Samuels modified the terms of the singer’s release to account for the ongoing treatment.

A legal representative for Lil Nas X (born Montero Lamar Hill) did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for confirmation on Monday.

The judge also did not disclose additional details about the singer’s treatment, adding that “it’s private, nobody needs to know where he is, but he is in treatment,” Billboard reported.

Hill, who broke out with his hit “Old Town Road,” was arrested last month in Studio City on suspicion of charging at a police officer. He was also hospitalized for a possible overdose. At the time, officers responded to reports of a “nude man walking in the street.”

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged Lil Nas X with four felony counts stemming from the incident: three counts of battery with injury on a police officer and one count of resisting an executive officer. Hill allegedly assaulted officers who were trying to take him into custody. At least three were injured, the L.A. County district attorney’s office said.

The musician pleaded not guilty on all counts and was released from a Van Nuys jail after posting $75,000 bail. He faces up to five years in state prison if convicted on all charges.

Shortly after his arraignment, Lil Nas X reassured fans that he’s “gonna be all right” and said the ordeal with law enforcement made for a “terrifying four days.”

Hill’s attorney Drew Findling spoke to Rolling Stone after Monday’s hearing about the judge’s mention of “treatment.” “We’re doing what is best for Montero in a personal standpoint and a professional standpoint, but most importantly for his well-being,” Findling says in video shared on X by reporter Nancy Dillon.

“He is surrounded by an amazing family and amazing team of people that care about him and love him and we’re just addressing those issues,” Findling added. “It’s really as simple as that. He’s had a great life, he’ll continue to have a great life and this is a bump he’s gonna get over.”

CHICAGO — Eight people were killed and 50 others were wounded over the Labor Day weekend in dozens of shootings in Chicago, where President Trump has seized on crime to try to justify a greater federal role on the city’s streets.

The toll highlights Chicago’s persistent struggle with gun violence and reveals a grim reality: spikes in shootings during summer holiday weekends, particularly on the South and West sides. The violence this time was deadlier than the last Labor Day, when seven people were killed and more than 20 were wounded.

Asked by reporters about sending National Guard troops to Chicago, Trump said, “We’re going in,” but added, “I didn’t say when.”

“We have the right to do it,” he said.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, both Democrats, have repeatedly said there’s no reason for Trump to send the National Guard, which is on the ground in the District of Columbia, targeting crime, immigration and homelessness.

“We’ve got crime on the streets,” Pritzker acknowledged last week. “Any person that gets killed or hurt is a victim of crime, is somebody that we ought to be addressing the challenges for. And we’re doing that every day. But the way to do it is with police officers, not with troops.”

Between Friday night and Monday night, 58 people were shot in 37 separate shootings in the nation’s third-largest city, according to preliminary information from police. Most survivors were in good or fair condition, but several were listed in serious or critical condition, including a 17-year-old boy. In most cases, no suspect was in custody.

Separately, the Trump administration is expected to expand immigration operations in Chicago. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed plans for a greater presence of federal agents.

Johnson over the weekend signed an order declaring that Chicago police will not collaborate with military personnel on police patrols or civil immigration enforcement.

Police will not be “deputized to do traffic stops and checkpoints for the president,” said the mayor, adding that the Trump administration is “out of control.”

Violent crime has dropped in recent years in Chicago, population 2.7 million, but it remains a persistent problem in some neighborhoods. Some with the highest homicide rates have 68 times more homicides than those with the lowest rates, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab.

Last year, the city had 573 homicides, or 21 per every 100,000 residents, according to the Rochester Institute of Technology. Other cities had a higher rate in 2024. Chicago’s rate was down 25% compared with 2020.

Chicago police post weekly crime stats online. The department says there were 278 murders so far this year, through August, a 31% drop compared with the same eight-month period in 2024.

Actor Floyd Levine, whose career spanned numerous decades and a variety of projects ranging from films “The Hangover” and “Norbit” to TV shows “Melrose Place” and “Murder, She Wrote,” has died. He was 93.

Levine died Sunday, surrounded by family and “probably wishing someone would bring him a martini,” his daughter-in-law Tracy Robbins announced Tuesday on Instagram. Robbins, who is married to Levine’s son, former Paramount executive Brian Robbins, said Levine was “the best father-in-law, grandpa, and all around jokester.”

Levine began his screen career in the early 1970s and appeared in almost 100 productions. His notable credits also include films “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Bloodbrothers,” “Super Fly” and TV series “Kojak,” “Starsky & Hutch,” “Baywatch” and “Days of Our Lives.” He often played minor characters, including police officers, detectives, tailors, doctors and a crime boss.

A former taxi cab driver from New York City, Levine also collaborated with his son on Eddie Murphy starrers “Norbit,” “Meet Dave” and “A Thousand Words.” Robbins was inspired by his father to pursue an entertainment career and was also an actor, director and longtime producer before he became an industry executive. The father-son duo also both appeared in “Archie Bunker’s Place” and “Head of the Class.” They also worked together on “Good Burger,” “Kenan & Kel” and “Coach Carter.”

“Brian is basically his twin, and we will see Floyd’s grin every time we look at him,” Tracy Robbins added in her Instagram post.

“You all have made my life sugar, and I love you all so much,” he tells loved ones in a video shared by Robbins. “If I could do it, I’d hug you and kiss you all. God bless you all and keep punching.”

Levine was laid to rest on Wednesday. In addition to Brian and Tracy Robbins, survivors also include daughter Sheryl, son Marc and several grandchildren, according to the Hollywood Reporter. His wife, Rochelle, died in May 2022 at age 85.

“I would like to think there’s a casting call in heaven, and you showed up early, script in hand,” Tracy Robbins added in her post. “I will miss him dearly, but i know he’s making the angels laugh already and back together with his beautiful wife Rochelle.”

Looks like whoever called the cops on Lil Nas X last week wasn’t exaggerating when they reported the Grammy winner as a “nude man walking in the street.”

Initial video posted last week by TMZ showed the performer wearing only tighty-whities and white cowboy boots, strolling and posing on an L.A. street just before sunrise — and just before his arrest on suspicion of charging at a police officer. But it turns out that’s not the exact condition he was in when law enforcement took him in.

In new video TMZ posted over the weekend, the “Old Town Road” singer can be seen walking down the middle of a street fully naked, having shed the boots and underpants that had barely covered his modesty. (That he disrobed explains how a concerned citizen-slash-amateur videographer was able to snatch his boots up from off the street and list them for sale on EBay, seeking $10,000 — or best offer.)

In the new footage, Lil Nas X recites some Nicki Minaj lyrics from the Kanye West tune “Monster” as he struts runway-style toward the person shooting the video, who appears to be in the driver’s seat of a car.

“And if I’m fake, I ain’t notice ‘cause my money ain’t / So let me get this straight, wait, I’m the rookie? / But my features and my shows 10 times your pay? / 50K for a verse, no album out,” Lil Nas X says in the video.

An LAPD spokesperson told The Times last week that the 26-year-old, who was arrested around 6 a.m. Thursday, initially was taken to a hospital for a possible overdose. Lil Nas X was booked a little over five hours later and ultimately spent the weekend in a Van Nuys jail pending a court date Monday to set bail.

Both the LAPD and Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the scene on Thursday. LAFD did not give The Times additional information about the singer’s condition.

The performer, whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill, was arrested on suspicion of battery on a police officer after he allegedly charged at officers who responded to the call. Although TMZ reported that he was being held on a misdemeanor, online arrest records list him as being held on a felony count.

Representatives for Lil Nas X did not respond immediately to The Times’ request for comment Monday.

His arrest came soon after he apparently wiped his Instagram grid of old photos and posted a couple dozen new ones, including a selfie posted Tuesday of himself wearing a fur coat, bright red lipstick and both a cowboy hat and crown. “OH NO sHES GONE MAD! CRAZY I TELL U!,” he captioned the post.

In another photo, Lil Nas X posed in front of a backlit mirror in a gold gown, white cowboy boots and a tiara.

“And just like that she’s back,” he wrote in that caption. “We’ve all waited so long. When dreamworld needed her the most.”

Times staff writers Alexandra Del Rosario, Christopher Buchanan and Richard Winton contributed to this report.

Grammy winner Lil Nas X’s stroll through Studio City early Thursday morning ended in his hospitalization and his arrest on suspicion of charging at a police officer.

The 26-year-old musician, known for hits including “Old Town Road” and “Industry Baby,” was transported to a local hospital for a possible overdose, an LAPD spokesperson confirmed to The Times on Thursday. Police did not confirm the singer’s identity but told The Times that at around 5:50 a.m., officers responded to the 11000 block of Ventura Boulevard to reports of a “nude man walking in the street.”

TMZ, which first reported on the singer’s hospitalization, shared video of the singer (real name Montero Lamar Hill) strutting in the street down a mostly empty Ventura Boulevard wearing only white underpants and cowboy boots. Police alleged that the “suspect charged at officers” upon their arrival, and he was taken into custody.

The Los Angeles Fire Department also reported to the 3700 block of North Cahuenga Boulevard where they picked up the musician, a spokesperson confirmed to The Times. The spokesperson did not share additional information about the singer’s condition.

Police booked the singer at the LAPD’s Valley Jail section in Van Nuys later Thursday morning on suspicion of misdemeanor battery on a police officer. A representative for Lil Nas X did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

In the clips shared with TMZ, the “Call Me By Your Name” artist speaks to a driver behind the camera about a party and repeatedly tells him to put away his phone. Lil Nas X also posed with an orange traffic cone over his head, as seen in photos published by TMZ.

Lil Nas X, who broke out in 2019 with the viral “Old Town Road” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, was hospitalized earlier this year after he said in a since-expired Instagram story that he had “lost control” of the right side of his face. He reassured fans, “It’s getting better y’all, I promise.”

On Tuesday, the singer also seemingly wiped his Instagram page of old posts and shared 26 photos and videos. Several new posts seem to point to a new chapter in his music, including a brief snippet of his song “KIMBO” featuring Lil Jon. His recent photos take a more cryptic approach, with several featuring random items scattered in different parts of a room.

Lil Nas X also posted a selfie on Tuesday of himself wearing a fur coat, bright red lipstick, and both a cowboy hat and crown. “OH NO sHES GONE MAD! CRAZY I TELL U!,” he captioned the post.

In another photo, Lil Nas X poses in front of a backlit mirror as he wears a gold gown, white cowboy boots and a tiara.

He wrote in the caption: “And just like that she’s back. We’ve all waited so long. When dreamworld needed her the most.”

Times staff writers Christopher Buchanan and Richard Winton contributed to this report.

San Bernardino police responded to what they described as “an officer-involved shooting” involving federal immigration officers Saturday morning.

When police officers responded to the area of Acacia Avenue and Baseline Street shortly before 9 a.m., they encountered immigration agents who said they had fired at a suspect who then fled the scene.

Soon after, according to the San Bernardino Police Department, a man — who has not been identified — contacted the dispatch center, saying that masked men had tried to pull him over, broke his car window and shot at him. He said he didn’t know who they were and asked for police assistance.

In a statement Saturday night, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said agents had been conducting a targeted enforcement operation in San Bernardino and said that “Customs and Border Protection] officers were injured during a vehicle stop when a subject refused to exit his vehicle and tried to run them down.”

“In the course of the incident the suspect drove his car at the officers and struck two CBP officers with his vehicle,” the statement read. Because of that, the official said, a CBP officer discharged his firearm “in self-defense.”

According to a news release from the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, federal agents broke the driver and passenger windows of the vehicle and fired three times. Video the group uploaded on Facebook appeared to capture the interaction, showing agents wearing “police” vests and shouting at those inside to roll down the window.

“No la voy a abrir,” the man said from inside, saying he wasn’t going to open it.

Soon after, the video captured the sound of shattering glass and what sounded like three shots being fired. The video showed a man wearing a hat with CBP on it.

The video appears to show the vehicle leaving after the windows are smashed, but does not capture the driver striking the officers.

“This was a clear abuse of power,” the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice said in its release. “Firing at civilians, harassing families without cause, and targeting community voices must stop.”

According to the San Bernardino Police Department, officers later located the vehicle in the 1000 block of Mt. View Drive and made contact with the man, but they said it was unclear what federal agents wanted him for.

“Under the California Values Act, California law enforcement agencies are prohibited from assisting federal officials with immigration enforcement, so our officers left the scene as the investigation was being conducted by federal authorities,” police said in a news release.

In a statement, a DHS spokesperson misidentified the police department, describing it as the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, and said local authorities had the man in custody but then set him free.

“This decision was made despite the subject refusing to comply and wounding two officers — another terrible example of California’s pro-sanctuary policies in action that shield criminals instead of protecting communities,” the unidentified spokesperson said.

At 1:12 p.m., federal officials requested assistance from the department because a large crowd was forming as they attempted to arrest the suspect, the police said. At that time, federal agents told police he was wanted for allegedly assaulting a federal officer.

Police responded and provided support with crowd control, according to the department.

The Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice said in a news release that the agents didn’t present a warrant and remained outside the home until 3:45 p.m., “pressuring the individual to come outside.”

The group added that two community members “were detained using unnecessary force, including one for speaking out.”

“Federal agents requested assistance during a lawful arrest for assaulting a federal officer when a crowd created a potential officer safety concern,” the police department said in a statement. “This was not an immigration-related arrest, which would be prohibited under California law.”

Federal investigators are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting, according to the police.

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota man accused of killing a top Democratic state lawmaker and wounding another while pretending to be a police officer is now facing new and upgraded state charges under a fresh indictment announced Thursday, just a week after he pleaded not guilty in federal court.

Vance Boelter now faces two charges of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder and charges of impersonating a police officer and animal cruelty for shooting one family’s dog. Hennepin County Atty. Mary Moriarty said the charges “reflect the weight of Mr. Boelter’s crimes.”

But the state case continues to take a backseat to the federal case against Boelter, where he faces potentially more serious consequences. He was indicted July 15 on six federal counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations. The murder charges could carry the federal death penalty, although prosecutors haven’t decided yet whether to pursue that option. The maximum penalty on the state charges is life in prison because Minnesota doesn’t have the death penalty.

Boelter pleaded not guilty in federal court Aug. 7.

Moriarty had requested the state prosecution proceed first, but federal prosecutors are using their authority to press their case, according to Daniel Borgertpoepping, Hennepin County attorney’s office’s public information officer.

“When Boelter returns to state custody, we will be prepared to prosecute him — to hold him accountable to our community,” Moriarty said. “We will do everything in our power to ensure that he is never able to hurt anyone again.”

Shocking case of political violence

The full extent of the political violence that officials said Boelter, 58, intended to inflict in the early hours of June 14 after months of planning alarmed the community. The Green Isle, Minn., resident was arrested a day later following a massive search involving local, state and federal authorities.

“The damage done to the victims — those with us, those who were taken from us and to our entire community — has opened wounds that will never heal,” Moriarty said in a statement.

The Hennepin County attorney’s office initially issued a warrant charging Boelter with two counts of second-degree murder for allegedly posing as a police officer and fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home.

Boelter, authorities said, wore a uniform and a mask and yelled that he was police and told these lawmakers that he was an officer.

Authorities originally charged Boelter with two counts of attempted second-degree murder, alleging he shot state Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette. But officials said when the charges were filed to secure the warrant that they would likely be updated to first-degree murder charges. They also added two additional attempted murder charges Thursday.

Moriarty said the Hoffmans managed to push Boelter out of their home, shutting the door before the gunman fired nine times through the door, striking the senator nine times and his wife eight times. Both survived. Their adult daughter nearby was not hit.

Other lawmakers targeted

Federal prosecutors already revealed details of their investigation showing Boelter had driven to two other legislators’ homes in the roughly hour and a half timeline. Moriarty charged Boelter with trying to kill one of those lawmakers because he went to her door in the same way he approached the Hortmans’ and Hoffmans’ homes and tried to get inside. She said it doesn’t matter that Rep. Kristin Bahner wasn’t home. Moriarty said Boelter rang Bahner’s door for two full minutes while yelling it is the police and trying to open the door himself.

The state case against Boelter shows an application for public defender was filed June 16, but one has yet to be assigned. Public defenders are typically assigned in Minnesota at a defendant’s first appearance, which Boelter did not have before being taken into federal custody, Borgertpoepping said in a text message.

Controversial prosecutor

Moriarty announced last week that she would not seek reelection next year.

Moriarty, a former public defender, was elected in 2022 as the Minneapolis area and the country were still reeling from the murder of George Floyd, a Black man pinned under the knee of a white officer for 9 1/2 minutes. She promised to make police more accountable and change the culture of a prosecutors’ office that she believed had long overemphasized punishment without addressing the root causes of crime.

Moriarty faced controversy during her tenure because she said she wanted to move away from punishment as the purpose of prosecution and focus on issues that lead people to engage in violence. But her critics say she has downplayed the concerns of crime victims and damaged public trust in her office.

Vancleave and Funk write for the Associated Press. Funk reported from Omaha and AP writer Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report from Des Moines.

A newly unsealed court document alleges that Richard Tillman admitted to police officers that he drove a vehicle into a Northern California post office and set the building on fire, “trying to make a statement to the United States Government.”

It’s unclear what the statement was intended to be. According to the document, Tillman also told San Jose Police officers at the scene that he was responsible for spray-painting “Viva La Me” on the building as it was burning but was unable to finish writing because of the heat.

The youngest brother of late NFL star and U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman has been charged with the federal crime of malicious destruction of government property by fire in connection with the incident at Almaden Valley Station Post Office on July 20 at around 3 a.m. Sunday.

The 44-year-old San Jose resident was arrested at the scene. The criminal complaint against Tillman was filed July 23 but remained sealed until Wednesday when Tillman made his initial appearance in federal district court in San Jose. KRON-TV in San Francisco reports that Tillman did not enter a plea.

Tillman is in federal custody and has a status conference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins scheduled for Aug. 6, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a press release.

The criminal complaint includes a statement of probable cause by U.S. Postal Inspector Shannon Roark. According to the statement, Tillman told officers on the scene that he had placed “instalogs” throughout his vehicle and doused them with lighter fluid. He then backed the vehicle into the post office, exited the vehicle and used a match to set the car ablaze.

The building was “partially destroyed by the fire,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Roark also stated that Tillman told officers at the scene that he had livestreamed the incident on YouTube. Tillman’s channel has since been removed from the site.

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Pat Tillman famously walked away from a three-year, $3.6-million contract offer from the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army, along with his younger brother, Kevin.

On April 22, 2004, Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire in the province of Khost, Afghanistan. He was 27.

The day after the post office fire, Kevin Tillman released a statement.

“Our family is aware that my brother Richard has been arrested. First and foremost, we are relieved that no one was physically harmed,” Kevin Tillman stated. “ … To be clear, it’s no secret that Richard has been battling severe mental health issues for many years. He has been livestreaming, what I’ll call, his altered self on social media for anyone to witness.

“Unfortunately, securing the proper care and support for him has proven incredibly difficult — or rather, impossible. As a result, none of this is as shocking as it should be.”

WASHINGTON — Coming to court this week, a police officer’s widow wanted to prove that a man assaulted her husband during a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol and ultimately was responsible for her husband’s suicide nine days later. A jury’s verdict on Friday amounted to only a partial victory for Erin Smith in a lawsuit over her husband’s death.

The eight-member jury held a 69-year-old chiropractor, David Walls-Kaufman, liable for assaulting Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. They will hear more trial testimony before deciding whether to award Erin Smith any monetary damages over her husband’s assault.

But the judge presiding over the civil trial dismissed Erin Smith’s wrongful death claim against Walls-Kaufman before jurors began deliberating. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said no reasonable juror could conclude that Walls-Kaufman’s actions were capable of causing a traumatic brain injury leading to Jeffrey Smith’s death.

Reyes divided the trial into two stages: one on the merits of Erin Smith’s claims and another on damages. The damages phase is expected to stretch into next week.

Erin Smith claimed Walls-Kaufman gave her husband a concussion as they scuffled inside the Capitol. Jeffrey Smith was driving to work for the first time after the Capitol riot when he shot and killed himself with his service weapon.

His widow claims Walls-Kaufman struck her 35-year-old husband in the head with his own police baton inside the Capitol, causing psychological and physical trauma that led to his suicide. Jeffrey Smith had no history of mental health problems before the Jan. 6 riot, but his mood and behavior changed after suffering a concussion, according to his wife and parents.

Walls-Kaufman, who lived near the Capitol, denies assaulting Jeffrey Smith. He says any injuries that the officer suffered on Jan. 6 occurred later in the day, when another rioter threw a pole that struck Jeffrey Smith around his head.

Walls-Kaufman served a 60-day prison sentence after pleading guilty to a Capitol riot-related misdemeanor in January 2023, but he was pardoned in January. On his first day back in the White House, President Donald Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences or ordered the dismissal of cases for all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in the attack.

Trump’s sweeping act of clemency didn’t erase Erin Smith’s lawsuit against Walls-Kaufman.

Erin Smith, the trial’s first witness, recalled packing a lunch for her husband and kissing him as he headed off to work on Jan. 15, 2021, for the first time after the riot.

“I told him I loved him, said I would see him when he got home,” she testified.

Within hours, police officers knocked on her door and informed her that her husband was dead. She was stunned to learn that he shot himself with his service weapon in his own car.

“It was the most traumatic words I’ve ever heard,” she recalled. “You just don’t know what to do.”

Walls-Kaufman’s attorney, Hughie Hunt, urged jurors to “separate emotion” and concentrate on the facts of the case.

“This is tragic, but that doesn’t place anything at the foot of my client,” Hunt said during the trial’s opening statements.

Jeffrey Smith’s body camera captured video of his scuffle with Walls-Kaufman. In his testimony, Walls-Kaufman said he was overcome by “sensory overload” and “mass confusion” as police tried to usher the crowd out of the Capitol.

“I couldn’t tell who was pushing who or from what direction,” he said.

The police department medically evaluated Jeffrey Smith and cleared him to return to full duty before he killed himself. Hunt said there is no evidence that his client intentionally struck Jeffrey Smith.

“The claim rests entirely on ambiguous video footage subject to interpretation and lacks corroborating eyewitness testimony,” Hunt wrote in a court filing in the case.

More than 100 law enforcement officers were injured during the riot. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick collapsed and died a day after engaging with the rioters. A medical examiner later determined he suffered a stroke and died of natural causes. Howard Liebengood, a Capitol police officer who responded to the riot, also died by suicide after the attack.

In 2022, the District of Columbia Police and Firefighters’ Retirement and Relief Board determined that Jeffrey Smith was injured in the line of duty and the injury was the “sole and direct cause of his death,” according to the lawsuit.

Kunzelman writes for the Associated Press.

An aide to Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado has been placed on unpaid leave after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon at an anti-ICE protest, Jurado and her staff said Monday.

Luz Aguilar, 26, who serves as Jurado’s deputy for economic innovation and community growth, was arrested around 7 p.m. Sunday and booked several hours later, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate records.

“The allegations are deeply concerning and I take them very seriously,” Jurado, who represents downtown and neighborhoods on L.A.’s Eastside, said in a statement. “While I respect the individual’s right to due process, I hold my team to the highest standards of conduct.”

Aguilar‘s father is Pasadena City Councilmember Rick Cole, who is also a high-level aide to L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia. Aguilar’s sister, 26-year-old Antonia Aguilar, was arrested at the same time, records show.

Both were being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Jurado said Luz Aguilar — who is listed in inmate records as AguilarCole — has been placed on unpaid leave while the council office assesses the facts and considers “appropriate action.” Although Aguilar was accused of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon, “it’s a developing situation,” said Lisa Marroquin, a spokesperson for Jurado.

Marroquin could not say which law enforcement agency the officer was from.

Cole, in a text message, said Monday that he did not yet have information on the allegations. A day earlier, while appearing at an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement rally in Pasadena, he said the fight against the immigration arrests was personal to him.

“I’ve just seen pictures of my two daughters on a curb in downtown Los Angeles in handcuffs [with] the LAPD,” he said at the rally. “So I’m going to be figuring out where they are so I can go bail them out.”

Protests against federal immigration raids continued to rage Sunday after President Trump ordered the National Guard to Southern California. Some demonstrators in downtown L.A. dropped rocks from a freeway overpass onto police cruisers, while others vandalized government buildings, burned Waymo cars or burglarized businesses.

Mejia, Cole’s boss, is an outspoken critic of the Los Angeles Police Department. On Friday, Mejia voiced concerns about the presence of LAPD officers “within the vicinity of ICE raids.”

Mejia said he has asked for the department to turn over information about the financial impact of the raids on police resources. L.A. declared itself a “sanctuary” city last year, and Police Chief Jim McDonnell has repeatedly said that the LAPD is not involved in “civil immigration enforcement,” pointing to a decades-old policy.

“LAPD’s presence raises serious questions about whether we are abiding by our City’s mandate as a Sanctuary City and is a cause for concern and confusion regarding LAPD’s role,” Mejia said in a statement on social media.

An LAPD spokesperson did not have any details on the arrests when reached by The Times.

Jurado, a former tenant rights attorney, won a seat on the 15-member council in November. During the campaign, she described herself as an abolitionist — someone who supports the abolition of police and prisons.

During the campaign’s final weeks, Jurado was heard on a recording telling college students, “F— the police, that’s how I see ‘em.” She later issued a statement downplaying her remark, saying it was “just a lyric” from a rap song.

The City Council has scheduled a special meeting Tuesday to discuss the federal immigration raids — including “related threats to public service and facilities” — and has left open the possibility of a closed-door meeting with McDonnell on that topic.

Unions in California are different from those in other places.

More than any state in our troubled country, their ranks are filled with people of color and immigrants. While unions have always been tied closely with the struggles of civil rights, that has become even more pronounced in the years since George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis.

In the subsequent national soul-searching, unions were forced to do a bit of their own. But where that conversation has largely broken down for general society under the pressure of President Trump’s right-wing rage, it took hold inside of unions to a much greater degree — leading to more leadership from people of color, sometimes younger leadership and definitely an understanding from the rank and file that these are organizations that fight far beyond the workplace.

Which is why the arrest of David Huerta, president of SEIU-USWW and SEIU California, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday is going to have a major impact on the coming months as deportations continue.

“They have woke us up,” Tia Orr told me Saturday morning. She’s the executive director of the 700,000-strong Service Employees International Union California, of which Huerta is a part, and the first African American and Latina to lead the organization.

“And I think they’ve woke people up across the nation, certainly in California, and people are ready to get to action,” she added. “I haven’t seen that in a long time. I don’t know that I’ve seen something like that before, and so yes, it is going to result in action that I believe is going to be historical.”

While unions have voiced their disapproval of mass deportations since the MAGA threat first manifested, their might has not gone full force against them, taking instead a bit of a wait-and-see approach.

Well, folks, we’ve seen. We’ve seen the unidentified masked men rounding up immigrants across the country and shipping them into life sentences at torturous foreign prisons; we’ve watched a 9-year-old Southern California boy separated from his father and detained for deportation; and Friday, across Los Angeles, we saw an anonymous military-style force of federal agents sweep up our neighbors, family members and friends in what seemed to be a haphazard and deliberately cruel way.

And for those of you who have watched the video of Huerta’s arrest, we’ve seen a middle-aged Latino man in a plaid button-down be roughly pushed by authorities in riot gear until he falls backward, and seems to strike his head on the curb. Huerta was, according to a television interview with Mayor Karen Bass, pepper-sprayed as well. Then he was taken to the hospital for treatment, then into custody, where he remains until a Monday arraignment.

U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli wrote on social media that “Federal agents were executing a lawful judicial warrant at a LA worksite this morning when David Huerta deliberately obstructed their access by blocking their vehicle. He was arrested for interfering with federal officers … Let me be clear: I don’t care who you are—if you impede federal agents, you will be arrested and prosecuted. No one has the right to assault, obstruct, or interfere with federal authorities carrying out their duties.”

I have covered protests, violent and nonviolent, for more than two decades. In one of the first such events I covered, I watched an iconic union leader, Bill Camp, sit down in the middle of the road in a Santa suit and refuse to move. Police arrested him. But they managed to do it without violence, and without Camp’s resistance. This is how unions do good trouble — without fear, without violence.

Huerta understands the rules and power of peaceful protest better than most. The union he is president of — SEIU United Service Workers West — started the Justice for Janitors campaign in 1990, a bottom-up movement that in Los Angeles was mostly powered by the immigrant Latina women who cleaned commercial office space for wages as low as $7 an hour.

After weeks of protests, police attacked those Latina workers in June of that year in what became known as the “Battle of Century City.” Two dozen workers were injured but the union did not back down. Eventually, it won the contracts it was seeking, and equally as important, it won public support.

Huerta joined USWW a few years after that incident, growing the Justice for Janitors campaign. The union was and has always been one powered by immigrant workers who saw that collective power was their best power, and Huerta has led decades of building that truth into a practical force. He is, says Orr, an organizer who knows how to bring people together.

To say he is a beloved and respected leader in both the union and California in general is an understatement. You can still find his bio on the White House website, since he was honored as a “Champion of Change,” by President Obama. Within hours of his arrest, political leaders across the state were voicing support.

“David Huerta is a respected leader, a patriot, and an advocate for working people. No one should ever be harmed for witnessing government action,” Gov. Gavin Newsom posted online.

Perhaps more importantly, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, speaking for her 15 million members, issued a statement.

Huerta “was doing what he has always done, and what we do in unions: putting solidarity into practice and defending our fellow workers,” she said. “The labor movement stands with David and we will continue to demand justice for our union brother until he is released.”

Similar statements came from the Teamsters and other unions. Solidarity isn’t a buzzword to unions. It’s the bedrock of their power. In arresting Huerta, that solidarity has been supercharged. Already, union members from across the state are making plans to gather Monday for Huerta’s arraignment in downtown Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Stephen Miller, the Santa Monica native and architect of Trump’s deportation plans, has said the raids we are seeing now are just the beginning, and that he would like to see thousands of arrests every day, because our immigrant communities are filled with “every kind of criminal thug that you can imagine on planet earth.”

But in arresting Huerta, the battleground has been redrawn in ways we don’t fully yet appreciate. No doubt, Miller will have his way and the raids will not only continue, but increase.

But also, the unions are not going to back down.

“Right now, just in the last 14 hours, labor unions are joining together from far and wide, communities are reaching out in ways I’ve never seen,” Orr told me. “Something is different.”

Rosa Parks was just a woman on a bus, she pointed out, until she was something more. George Floyd was just another Black man stopped by police. Until he was something more.

Huerta is the something more of these immigration raids — not because he’s a union boss, but because he’s a union organizer with ties to both people in power and people in fear.

The coming months will show what happens when those two groups decide, together, that backing down is not an option.

It’s not easy for NFL long snappers to stand out, their exacting trade hinging exclusively on repeating the same action without fail or fanfare. Yet Jake McQuaide, the former Rams two-time Pro Bowl long snapper and veteran of 14 NFL seasons, drew attention Saturday when he stood up.

McQuaide rose during Mass at an Ohio Catholic church and snapped at Jason Williams, chancellor of the Cincinnati Archdiocese, demanding answers about rumors that two priests had viewed pornography on a parish computer.

Shortly thereafter, McQuaide was removed from the sanctuary by police officers.

During the outburst, McQuaide seemed to channel Sister Aloysius — Meryl Streep’s character in the 2008 film “Doubt,” — when he loudly questioned Williams, saying “We want to put these rumors to rest. Can you answer this for me, fact or fiction?”

According to video from Cincinnati news station WCPO, when someone at the alter told McQuaide, “this is not the time for this,” McQuaide responded by shouting, “I’m sorry, sir, this is the time and the place. I will stand up. Did the priest use our parish computer to look at pornography? …True or false? True or false?”

McQuaide’s challenge occurred while Williams was reading a letter from Archbishop Robert Casey to the Our Lady of Visitation congregation that said the rumors were investigated and “no wrongdoing — either criminally or ecclesiastically — has been substantiated.” The letter also said that one of the priests was taking a “previously planned sabbatical.”

“Like gossip, the spreading of rumors is sinful, and we should all work to overcome this tendency of our fallen human nature,” the letter said.

Two Green Township police officers escorted McQuaide from the church. McQuaide was not charged, according to the police.

McQuaide grew up near Green Township and attended Cincinnati Elder High, an all-male Catholic diocesan school within the Archdiocese of Cincinnati founded in 1912.

After attending Ohio State, McQuaide served as the Rams long snapper for 10 years, beginning in 2011 when the franchise was in St. Louis and ending after the 2021 season. Since then he has played for the Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins, having appeared in 197 career games.

Tears flowed from Freddie Freeman as he sat in a Dodger Stadium interview room Aug. 5 and described the arduous recovery his 3-year-old son Max was making from a rare neurological condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves.

Max had returned home from a five-night stay at Children’s Hospital Orange County, and Freeman was back in the Dodgers lineup after missing eight games to be with his family during the ordeal.

Two months later, the Dodgers were playing host to the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series. A police officer approached Freeman’s wife, Chelsea, to ask how Max was doing.

A photograph of Officer Samuel Riveros provided by the Baldwin Police Department.

(Baldwin Police Department.)

The officer, Samuel Riveros of the Baldwin Park Police Dept., smiled and handed her a police patch to give to Max.

Riveros was killed Saturday in Baldwin Park when a gunman fatally shot him in the head while Riveros was rushing to the aid of a fellow officer who also had been shot, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told The Times.

Chelsea Freeman related meeting Riveros on her Instagram Stories and offered her family’s condolences.

“Our hearts are heavy hearing of his passing this week,” she posted. “We met during the Dodgers/Mets playoffs. He came up to me, asked how my son Max was doing and handed me his police patch to give to him.

“A small gesture that meant so much.”

Freddie Freeman was a World Series hero for the Dodgers in 2024, hitting a walk-off grand slam to win Game 1 against the New York Yankees. He is off to a hot start in 2025, currently leading the NL with a .368 batting average.

Riveros had been a Baldwin Park officer since 2016, joined the agency’s SWAT team in 2019, and had recently become a field training officer, which in a statement the agency called a “testament to his leadership and mentorship.”

Riveros was known for his devotion to the Dodgers, even traveling to the stadiums of opposing teams to watch them play, according to Baldwin Park Police Chief Robert A. López.

“Officer Riveros gave his life in service to others, a profound testament to his unwavering dedication to duty and selfless courage,” the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Dept. wrote in a statement. “His loss is profoundly felt — not only by his family and colleagues, but by the entire Baldwin Park community and law enforcement family.”

Eduardo Roberto Medina-Berumen, 22, was arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held in lieu of $4 million bail, according to the Sheriff’s Department. He lives with his mother at the Baldwin Park address on Filhurst Avenue, where gunfire erupted Saturday night, a source said.

“This tragic shooting is a sobering reminder of the danger our first responders face when they answer the call,” Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement.

INDIANAPOLIS — Jim Irsay, the Indianapolis Colts’ owner who leveraged the popularity of Peyton Manning into a new stadium and a Super Bowl title, died Wednesday at age 65.

Pete Ward, Irsay’s longtime right-hand man and the team’s chief operating officer, made the announcement in a statement from the team. He said Irsay died peacefully in his sleep.

“Jim’s dedication and passion for the Indianapolis Colts in addition to his generosity, commitment to the community, and most importantly, his love for his family were unsurpassed,” Ward said. “Our deepest sympathies go to his daughters, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt, Kalen Jackson, and his entire family as we grieve with them.”

Irsay had a profound impact on the franchise.

With Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian, Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy and Manning, Irsay helped turn the Colts from a laughingstock into a perennial title contender.

He also collected guitars, befriended musicians and often found inspiration in rock ’n’ roll lyrics.

A drum set played by Ringo Starr of the Beatles is part of the Jim Irsay Collection of rock ‘n’ roll artifacts that was on a national tour.

(Courtesy of Jim Irsay Collection)

Irsay had battled health problems in recent years and became less visible following a fall at his home. Police officers from Carmel, Ind., a northern suburb of Indianapolis, responded to a 911 call from Irsay’s home Dec. 8. According to the police report, the officers found Irsay breathing but unresponsive and with a bluish skin tone.

Ward, the report said, told officers that he was worried Irsay was suffering from congestive heart failure and that Irsay’s nurse had said Irsay’s oxygen level was low, his breathing was labored and he was “mostly” unconscious.

A month later, he was diagnosed with a respiratory illness.

During his annual training camp news conference last summer, Irsay told reporters he was continuing to rehab from two surgeries — though he remained seated in his golf cart. Irsay did not speak during the recent NFL draft as he typically did.

He had also battled addictions to alcohol and painkillers.

Irsay began his football life as a ball boy after his late father, Robert, acquired the team in a trade with the late Carroll Rosenbloom, who took over the Los Angeles Rams. The younger Irsay then worked his way up, becoming the youngest general manager in NFL history at age 24. He succeeded his father as owner in early 1997.