Los Angeles, Ca
Santa Monica man creates 'diversion security' device to deter homeless camping
Frustrated by the unhoused population in his neighborhood, a Santa Monica man has developed a chirping deterrent that he believes bothers transients enough that they will find another place to camp out.
Stephen McMahon, who has lived in Santa Monica for decades, calls his motion-sensing device the Blue Chirper because of the blue strobe light and cricket-like noise it emits.
“I call it diversion security, that is we’re diverting them away from our 20-block radius somewhere else,” McMahon told KTLA’s Carlos Saucedo.
The Santa Monica resident said he came up with the idea after seeing an influx of homeless people using alleyway-facing carports to sleep in overnight.
“I’ve lived here for over 30 years, and I’ve seen this neighborhood, which was just paradise, it was beautiful, deteriorate over the last five to six years,” he said. “I want to push these people out of here and bring Santa Monica back to the way it was.”
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Stephen McMahon seen working on his non-aggressive homeless deterrent device in Santa Monica on Sept. 24, 2024. (KTLA) -
A handmade wooden box holds the electronics for the Blue Chirper, which is meant to deter homeless camping. (KTLA) -
A blue strobe light that’s motion activated, along with cricket-like chirping noise to deter homeless from sleeping in the area. (KTLA) -
A Blue Chirper, meant to deter homeless camping, seen beneath a cabinet in a carport. (KTLA) -
A homeless person seen leaving a carport after the Blue Chirper is activated. (Stephen McMahon)
Building the Blue Chirper, though, wasn’t an easy undertaking, with McMahon saying he had one failure after another until, finally, he had an aha moment.
“I changed the approach that I was using, and it worked,” he explained.
The device’s electronics are held inside a wooden box that McMahon makes by hand. The device has worked so well with neighbors that he is now branching out, selling the Blue Chirper to local businesses.
“They barely even sit down and they leave,” McMahon said of transients who come across the noise and light the device creates.
His personal surveillance cameras have caught quite a few people leaving the carport immediately once the device starts blinking and chirping.
So far, he’s made about a dozen of the Blue Chirpers and says he has about a dozen more on backorder. He believes the demand for his device will go up while the homelessness crisis continues.
“Look, as long as it’s a sound you hear in nature and it’s not louder than an actual cricket, you’re going to be fine,” he said. “Nobody can complain about it.”
Authorities discovered millions of dollars worth of counterfeit luxury goods in a downtown Los Angeles bust.
On May 14, detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at two locations — a retail store in the 500 Block of South Los Angeles Street and a commercial warehouse in the 500 Block of Main Street.
Inside the warehouse, deputies found a significant amount of counterfeit luxury merchandise. In total, the retail value of the goods was estimated between $5 million and $10 million.
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Authorities discovered a warehouse filled with counterfeit luxury goods worth an estimated $5-$10 million in a downtown Los Angeles bust operation on May 14, 2026. (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department)
Two unidentified suspects, a man and a woman, were taken into custody.
“This remains an active investigation,” LASD said. “Additional arrests or charges are possible as the case progresses.”
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call LASD’s Major Crimes Bureau’s Tip Line at 562-946-7893.
Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.
At least one person was critically injured in a house fire that erupted in Montebello early Thursday morning.
Crews responded to the blaze engulfing a detached unit in the 100 block of South 5th Street near West Whittier Boulevard around 5 a.m.
Flames quickly spread to a nearby electrical pole, blowing a fuse and knocking out power in the area. Sparks could be seen as a loud pop was heard in a Citizen.com video later obtained by KTLA.
At least one person was believed to be in critical condition due to burn injuries, though officials have not released further details.
There was no immediate word on a possible cause of the fire.
A neighbor told KTLA that three people lived inside the home, including a child.
This is a developing story.
Authorities revealed new details Wednesday afternoon about the violent Santa Clarita crash involving a city transit bus, an overturned semi truck and two other vehicles that left 13 people injured.
According to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, the driver of a semi truck hauling a full load of gravel may have been traveling as fast as 70 mph when the vehicle approached a yellow light at the intersection of Golden Valley Road and Centre Pointe Parkway around 9:30 a.m.
Investigators said the driver then attempted to make a right turn to avoid running the red light before crashing into the bus and two passenger vehicles.
“[The driver] tried to make a right-hand turn to avoid running the red light and then crashed into the bus and the other two passenger vehicles,” Capt. Brandon Barclay of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station told KTLA.
Officials noted that the speed limit on Golden Valley Road is 50 mph.
Sky5 aerial footage showed the heavily damaged Santa Clarita Transit bus pushed onto a curb while the semi truck overturned nearby, and another vehicle appeared pinned beneath the front right side of the bus.
“When you look at it, it looks like a scene from Universal CityWalk,” Barclay said.
Authorities said 13 people were injured in the crash.
One passenger seated in the back of the bus had to be freed using the Jaws of Life and remained hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday afternoon, KTLA’s Angeli Kakade reported.
Seven additional people were transported to hospitals while five others declined medical treatment at the scene.
“You have a bus that was hit by a semi truck, so it’s very impactful for this community,” Barclay added.
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Sky5 was over a multi-vehicle crash involving a city bus in Santa Clarita, Calif. on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (KTLA) -
Sky5 was over a multi-vehicle crash involving a city bus in Santa Clarita, Calif. on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (KTLA) -
Sky5 was over a multi-vehicle crash involving a city bus in Santa Clarita, Calif. on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (KTLA) -
Sky5 was over a multi-vehicle crash involving a city bus in Santa Clarita, Calif. on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (KTLA) -
Sky5 was over a multi-vehicle crash involving a city bus in Santa Clarita, Calif. on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (KTLA) -
Sky5 was over a multi-vehicle crash involving a city bus in Santa Clarita, Calif. on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (KTLA)
Former Santa Clarita transit bus driver Darryl Richardson said he was stunned when he saw the aftermath of the crash.
“I know how a person feels to see a big old truck coming right at you,” Richardson told KTLA. “Thank God if it had broadsided the driver, we’d be talking about a different conversation right now.”
The City of Santa Clarita said road closures around the crash scene were expected to continue for several hours as deputies investigated what led up to the collision.
All directions of Centre Pointe Parkway between Golden Valley Road and Ruether Avenue remained closed Wednesday afternoon. Eastbound Golden Valley Road was also shut down from Robert C. Lee Parkway to Centre Pointe Parkway.
Drivers were urged to avoid the area and use alternate routes.
The crash remains under investigation.
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