Los Angeles, Ca
Rebuilt 1940s-era plane stolen, burned, used for scrap, owner says
Authorities recovered an oversized Airstream trailer, which housed a vintage single-engine aircraft, both of which were stolen from a warehouse parking lot in Torrance in a theft that was caught on surveillance cameras earlier this month.
The brazen heist occurred on Jan. 3 in the 22800 block of Lockness Avenue near Sepulveda Boulevard.
Security footage captured the moment a suspect driving a white truck pulled up, hitched the Airstream trailer to their vehicle and hauled it away with the 1940s-era two-seat Piper PA-15/17 plane inside.
“I’m pretty devastated,” the plane’s owner and flight instructor, Anis Pradhan, said. “They broke a lock pad on the gate, opened the gate and they came in and just pulled it out of there.”
For more than a decade, Pradhan has been meticulously rebuilding the vintage aircraft. It was not only his passion but was meant to be used for training underprivileged children who aspired to be pilots in his home country of Nepal as part of a nonprofit effort.
“I’ve spent so many hours, thousands of hours, putting this aircraft together and in a matter of minutes, it just disappeared,” he said of the U.S. built plane.
The aircraft, which was uninsured because it was in storage, measured 22 feet in length, 35 feet in width and weighed over 1,000 pounds. It had wings that folded up, allowing it to be stored in the custom-built trailer.
Authorities discovered the burnt-out trailer at Daisy Avenue and 17th Street overnight. It had been completely dismantled and destroyed, with the classic airplane that was stored inside the trailer gone.
However, in photos obtained by KTLA, the 1940’s-era Vagabond plane had been inside the trailer and appeared to have been burned down to the frame along with it. According to witnesses, the remains of the plane were then hauled away by three suspects between Jan. 9-12.
“I was informed of it’s location by an anonymous person that works in the area, who sent photos of the trailer before it had been scrapped but after it had burned,” Pradhan said in a GofundMe organized to get a new plane. “By the time the informant found how to contact me, it had already been scrapped.”
KTLA is awaiting confirmation on these details from the police department, but those with knowledge of the custom trailer and vintage aircraft said that along with the 4 rebuilt engines, four propellers and vintage spare parts stolen and destroyed, the loss is valued at around $250,000.
Los Angeles, Ca
Hospital needs help identifying man found unconscious in downtown Los Angeles
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.
Los Angeles, Ca
Clue may identify SUV in Long Beach hit-and-run that left woman injured
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 […]
Los Angeles, Ca
‘What’s going on with our society?’ Elderly L.A. street vendor violently beaten
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.”
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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