Los Angeles, Ca
Are SoCal mountain communities ready for heavy winter storms?
Officials in San Bernardino County have released the latest results of a third-party after-action report evaluating the response to last year’s winter storms that caused blizzard-like conditions that caused road closures, leaving many residents stranded as supplies dwindled and supermarket shelves were picked bare.
For Lisa Ochoa, who lives in the Cedarpines Park community near Crestline, the memory of last year’s storms is still front and center.
“We literally could not get out of here,” Ochoa, standing in front of her home Monday, recalled.
KTLA’s spoke to several mountain residents, including Ochoa, during last winter’s harrowing ordeal that were stuck in their homes after unprecedented amounts of snowfall buried communities and left them pleading for help.
“Even though we had enough resources – we had food, we had our generators, we had heat – one by one, they go out,” she told KTLA’s Shelby Nelson. “One by one, they diminish, even just having water.”
Last year’s storm prompted a never before issued blizzard warning, while residents dealt with closed roads, power outages, collapsed roofs and the rationing of supplies like fuel and food.
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Blizzard-like conditions that have left many residents living in San Bernardino Mountain communities stranded. Feb. 28, 2023 (KTLA) -
Blizzard-like condition residents in San Bernardino Mountain communities that have left many residents completely stranded as of Feb. 28, 2023. (KTLA) -
Blizzard-like conditions that have left many residents living in San Bernardino Mountain communities stranded. Feb. 28, 2023 (KTLA)
While San Bernardino County prepared for the 2023 winter storms, many people who lived through the storms are now asking whether those preparations were enough.
The recently released after-action report noted both the strengths and weaknesses of the county’s response.
For instance, one positive was the county’s decision to activate the emergency operations plan, but where they fell short, according to the report, was that many officials, including elected ones, didn’t know how to leverage the plan or what to do next.
While the report stated that there was a lack of emergency training, the move to create a volunteer program that supported the county’s response to the storm, setting up a 24-hour call center and hotline for the community, was a success.
For hard-to-reach residents, like Ochoa and her family, however, the county’s response was lackluster at best.
“There was no one who came through here to offer any assistance to us,” she said.
Another challenge the reported highlighted was that there was not enough heavy equipment for snow removal.
Residents like Ochoa are hoping this winter is less extreme than last year but feel like the county should work with them and do more to prepare ahead of time.
“The county could come up here, have meetings with us, try to employ others to come in and help them with this,” she said.
Dawn Rowe, San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor, released a statement last week, saying in part:
“The winter storms created a tremendous hardship for many of our mountain residents and businesses. It was important to take a hard public look at how the county performed, particularly where we fell short, and implement improvements.”
The report, which can be viewed here, also gave recommendations for how the county should move forward.
A hospital needs help identifying a male patient who was found injured and unconscious in downtown Los Angeles.
The man is believed to be in his 30s, according to the Los Angeles General Medical Center.
He was found injured on the ground on Omar Street and has been hospitalized since June 22.
He stands 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 176 pounds. He has brown eyes, dark brown hair and tattoos across his upper body.
He did not have any personal belongings to help staff identify him or contact loved ones. Workers did not disclose the nature of his injuries.
Anyone who recognizes the man is asked to call clinical social worker Cesar Robles at 323-409-6885.
The public can also call the L.A. General Medical Center’s Department of Social Work at 323-409-5253 or, after hours from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m., call 323-409-6883. On weekends, call 323-409-5254.
Police are asking the public for help Wednesday in identifying a hit-and-run driver who left a woman badly injured in Long Beach late last month. The May 24 crash occurred around 11 p.m. as the victim was crossing East 2nd Street, according to the Long Beach Police Department. Video provided by police showed a dark-colored […]
WARNING: Video footage contains graphic violence
A 62-year-old street vendor is recovering after a brutally violent attack by another woman in broad daylight as bystanders in downtown Los Angeles looked on.
The attack happened around 4 p.m. on June 15 in the 700 block of Figueroa Street, where Arabelia Martinez has sold hot dogs for years to support herself and her family.
Video of the incident, which has since circulated widely online, appears to show a woman confronting Martinez at her stand before spraying sauce across the vendor’s cart. Martinez responds by throwing what appears to be Tajín seasoning in the woman’s direction, and the confrontation quickly escalates.
The difficult-to-watch footage shows Martinez being shoved to the ground and struck multiple times as people look on. Some can be seen attempting to intervene, but the assault continues for roughly a minute before coming to an end.
“I was speechless,” Martinez’s son, Constantino Garcia, said after watching the video. “I couldn’t even see the whole thing.”
According to Garcia, the suspect approached his mother before the attack and attempted to intimidate her into giving her money.
“The lady came up to my mom trying to intimidate her and extort her for money, telling her she needed a permit to sell, which my mom does have,” Garcia told KTLA’s Carlos Saucedo.
When Martinez refused, Garcia claims the woman became verbally abusive.
“After she didn’t get her way and tried to extort my mom, she said, ‘Go back to Mexico,’ and made some racist remarks,” he said. “She said some disgusting things to my mom.”
Garcia said his mother continues to suffer lingering effects from the attack.
“She keeps complaining about her head,” he said. “We need to go see a head specialist because her head doesn’t stop hurting. As you could see in the video, she got slammed to the ground.”
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A 62-year-old L.A. street vendor was violently beaten by another woman downtown as bystanders watched the broad daylight attack on June 15, 2026. (Constantino Garcia) -
A 62-year-old L.A. street vendor was violently beaten by another woman downtown as bystanders watched the broad daylight attack on June 15, 2026. (Constantino Garcia) -
A 62-year-old L.A. street vendor was violently beaten by another woman downtown as bystanders watched the broad daylight attack on June 15, 2026. (Constantino Garcia) -
A 62-year-old L.A. street vendor was violently beaten by another woman downtown as bystanders watched the broad daylight attack on June 15, 2026. (Constantino Garcia) -
A 62-year-old L.A. street vendor was violently beaten by another woman downtown as bystanders watched the broad daylight attack on June 15, 2026. (Constantino Garcia) -
A 62-year-old L.A. street vendor was violently beaten by another woman downtown as bystanders watched the broad daylight attack on June 15, 2026. (Constantino Garcia) -
A 62-year-old L.A. street vendor was violently beaten by another woman downtown as bystanders watched the broad daylight attack on June 15, 2026. (Constantino Garcia) -
A 62-year-old L.A. street vendor was violently beaten by another woman downtown as bystanders watched the broad daylight attack on June 15, 2026. (Constantino Garcia) -
A 62-year-old L.A. street vendor was violently beaten by another woman downtown as bystanders watched the broad daylight attack on June 15, 2026. (Constantino Garcia) -
A 62-year-old L.A. street vendor was violently beaten by another woman downtown as bystanders watched the broad daylight attack on June 15, 2026. (Constantino Garcia) -
A 62-year-old L.A. street vendor was violently beaten by another woman downtown as bystanders watched the broad daylight attack on June 15, 2026. (Constantino Garcia)
The video has also sparked outrage over the response from some witnesses who were nearby during the assault.
“What’s going on with our society?” Garcia said. “Are we getting desensitized to an elderly woman being beaten in broad daylight and being surrounded by people doing the bare minimum to help her? That was horrible for me to watch.”
Witness Sebastian Gutierrez said he arrived moments after the confrontation and saw Garcia’s attacker causing additional chaos in the area.
“The lady began to flip over the tables of vendors,” Gutierrez said, describing the woman as possibly unstable. “It definitely seemed like there were mental health issues or drugs involved, like we see with a lot of things here in downtown L.A.,” he said.
The Los Angeles Police Department has launched a battery investigation into the incident KTLA confirmed, though no suspect information or news of a potential arrest has been released.
Meanwhile, Martinez’s family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help with her recovery and raise awareness about the dangers street vendors face daily.
“I hope that my mom gets justice for what happened to her,” Garcia said. He added that he’s been encouraged by the public response to the video.
“I’m grateful people are sympathizing with my mom,” he said. “People are giving it the attention it deserves.”
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