Victims of crime in Los Angeles County gathered Monday night at an event organized by former L.A. mayoral candidate and businessman Rick Caruso to demand justice for their loved ones and a change in the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office.   

Emma Rivas, whose son was murdered in December 2020, said she was traumatized a second time when L.A. County DA George Gascón was elected.   

The Torrance mother said Gascón ordered prosecutors to drop the gun and gang enhancements against her son’s killer.   

“The guy that murdered my kid got 20 years less sentence than he was supposed to,” Rivas said at the event.  

Mary Klein, one of the victims in the Venice Canal sexual attacks, which resulted in the death of the other victim, also spoke, saying crime is out of control in the county and her recent near death by an alleged homeless man should serve as an example.   

“Out of the blue was attacked from behind, knocked over, rendered unconscious, kicked in the head numerous times,” she said of the violent assault she endured.  

These were just a few of the emotional stories shared at the event Monday night by survivors of violent crime in L.A. County, all of whom feel that the district attorney’s office needs a new tough-on-crime approach.   

Longtime victims advocate and founder of Justice for Children Lawanda Hawkins, whose own son was murdered, spoke as well.   

“I’m here to address the urgent need for change in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office,” she said, “and to speak out against the harmful policies of the district attorney’s current office.”  

Nathan Hochman, former United States Assistant Attorney General and the candidate running against Gascón for L.A. County DA in the November election, was also on hand and called Gascón’s policies a failed social experiment.   

“We’ve not run that social experiment for three and a half years and now we have the evidence to show that it has failed,” Hochman said.  

Caruso took to the stage to thank those who spoke for sharing their stories and to throw his considerable support behind Hochman for district attorney.   

“We’re here in great respect of your courage, of your generosity to share your stories to better L.A. County and get this man elected,” he said.   

In a statement from his campaign, Gascón responded:  

“Mr. Hochman is clearly still struggling to attract the type of Democratic support that L.A. voters trust. From Mr. Caruso to Steve Cooley, his Rolodex seems mostly composed of longtime Republicans looking to stay relevant after losing their most recent elections.”   

Surveillance video captured the moment a group of teens attempted to burglarize a home in San Bernardino County.

The suspects targeted the home on the 1100 block of Cedar Court in Upland around 11:30 p.m. on Monday night.

The homeowner, Jamie Asanovich, had left to make an Uber Eats delivery while her elderly mother was still inside the house.

But just minutes after driving away, her Ring doorbell camera alerted her that someone was at their front door.

“My mom called and she said, ‘Someone’s at the door knocking,’” recalled Asanovich. “I could see him on the Ring doorbell and I said, ‘I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t answer the door.’”

Within minutes, Asanovich’s mother called her back, feeling scared as three suspects had jumped over the fence and into their backyard.

The grandmother turned on a yard light and saw the suspects begin removing a window screen and attempting to enter the home.

Asanovich turned her car around and immediately rushed back home while calling the police to report the in-progress burglary.

As she approached her home, she spotted the suspects running to a getaway car and speeding away. She decided to follow them while letting the police dispatcher know their every move.

“When they got into the freeway, I kind of lost them because their lights were off,” Asanovich said.

She exited the freeway at Archibald Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga and spotted the suspects’ car turning into an apartment complex near 19th Street and Hermosa Avenue.

Upland police officers arrived at the complex shortly after and arrested five teen suspects inside the vehicle. The driver was an 18-year-old female and the other four suspects were juveniles.

“We did find some flashlights, a screwdriver and a hammer,” said Sgt. Jacob Kirk with Upland Police. “Some of the juveniles were site-released and one of them was booked into juvenile hall and the adult was booked. It was for attempted residential burglary.”

Police said the juvenile who was booked was on probation for a previous theft-related charge at the time.

Even though the victims weren’t hurt, Asanovich and her mother remain stunned and shaken.

“My mom turned a light on and that’s when they got scared and jumped over a fence and that’s when I got [back home],” Asanovich said. “But I think, ‘What if the window was open and they actually got in? What were they going to do to her?’”

Asanovich believes the suspects may be local high school kids who knew that her daughter was out of town in Hawaii.

Police have not confirmed a motive behind the attempted burglary, but Asanovich hopes the teens will learn their lesson before attempting to commit future crimes.

A pair of Los Angeles County businesses must pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for putting juvenile employees as young as 15 into dangerous situations and working them in excess of hours and times allowed by law.

A&J Meats of the City of Industry and The Right Hire of Downey “jointly employed and endangered children as young as 15 by tasking them to use sharp knives, allowing them to work inside freezers and coolers, and to scheduling them to work at times not permitted by law, all in violation of federal child labor regulations,” the U.S. Department of Labor said in a news release.

Specific violations include:

• Working children for more than three hours on school days
• Working children past 7 p.m. on school days
• Working children more than 18 hours in a week while school is in session

The companies must repay more than $327,000 in profits and pay almost $63,000 in fines. The businesses and A&J owner Priscilla Helen Castillo also must submit to annual Fair Labor Standards Act training and be independently monitored for violations for three years.

“A&J Meats and The Right Hire knowingly endangered these children’s safety and put their companies’ profits before the well-being of these minors,” Western Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin said in the release. “These employers egregiously violated federal law and now, both have learned about the serious consequences for those who so callously expose children to harm.” 

If you have questions or concerns about possible workplace violations, you can call 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243) regardless of where you are from. The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.