Four officers shot a man to death last month in Torrance after he refused to stop walking toward them holding what they thought was a knife, according to body-worn camera footage released Wednesday, Jan. 15.

The video revealed the man was actually armed with a screwdriver, and that, prior to the police encounter, he appeared to be bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. Audio released by police also recorded the man — for unknown reasons — summoning police to his location.

The man, later identified as 34-year-old Leonardo Diaz of Los Angeles, called police dispatch around 4:40 p.m. on Dec. 2 and reported a man was armed with a gun in the 2900 block of Oregon Court, south of Del Amo Boulevard and east of Maple Avenue, the Torrance Police Department said in a Critical Incident Community Briefing Video.

The video can be viewed here. As a warning, it includes graphic images and language that may be disturbing.

When a dispatcher asked where the suspect was, the caller said he was the one with a gun, according to a recording of the 911 call.

“I’m gonna shoot somebody,” the caller said. “I’m gonna stab somebody.”

The dispatcher asked the caller why he wanted to shoot someone, but the call dropped or hung up, according to the recording. A dispatcher tried to call the man back, but the call hung up again, police said.

Officers responded to the area, and police used technology to locate and identify the caller as Diaz.

Police found Diaz in the driver’s seat of a green Dodge Charger on Oregon and planned to approach him.

An officer told Diaz, who had his driver’s side door ajar, to roll down all of his windows, open his door all the way and make his hands visible multiple times, body-worn camera footage showed.

At one point, Diaz appears to open the door further and look back at officers before pulling the door back again. Officers said they believe he has a knife and is bleeding, according to the body-worn camera footage.

Dispatch audio released by police recorded…

MANHATTAN BEACH — A 32-year-old man suspected of a fatal hit-and-run run in Manhattan Beach has been taken into custody, police announced Monday.

According to the Manhattan Police Department, officers responded to the 300 block of Sepulveda Boulevard around 11:25 p.m. last Tuesday to reports of a traffic collision involving two vehicles.

Three victims were taken to a hospital, where one died. A second victim underwent surgery, but that person’s condition was not immediately known.

The name of the deceased victim was being withheld pending the notification of relatives.

Investigators later identified Kameron Lee Peterson as a person of interest, who fled the scene before the arrival of officers.

He was ultimately arrested and booked at the Manhattan Beach Police Department.

The hit-and-run collision remained under an ongoing investigation Monday afternoon. Anyone with additional information regarding the investigation was urged to contact the Manhattan Police Department at eyewitnessmanhattanbeach.gov or Officer Beranek at 310-802-8097.

Originally Published: January 13, 2025 at 4:01 PM PST

Smoke from three major fires burning in Southern California have fouled the air in central, southern and coastal Los Angeles County, with the bad air expected to hang around at least through Wednesday afternoon and into Thursday, according to a forecast issued by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The areas expected to remain in the unhealthy category — measuring from 151-200 on the Air Quality Index — due to heavy smoke include: Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles, the SCAQMD reported on Tuesday. In these areas, everyone may experience throat irritation and difficulty breathing, while those with heart disease, children, the elderly or people with asthma should stay indoors.

The less severe category of “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” may affect northern and central Orange County as well as western San Bernardino County. The IE areas include Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga, according to the air management district.

The main culprit is soot, ash and even tiny pieces of metal making up very, very small particles, known as PM2.5 or particles carried in the air as small as 2.5 micrometers in diameter that can penetrate deep into the lungs.

“PM2.5 can make respiratory problems like asthma worse,” said Joe Lyou, president and CEO of the nonprofit Coalition For Clean Air who served 12 years on the SCAQMD governing board. “It has been shown to be related to an increase in emergency room visits for heart attacks, and in heart and lung problems in general.”

The good news is that the Santa Ana winds that whipped the Eaton Fire in Altadena and northeast Pasadena on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning and grew it from 200 acres to 2,200 acres will diminish Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.

“Tonight and tomorrow (Thursday) in the San Gabriel Valley there will be very little wind, less than 10 mph. Basically the San Gabriel Valley is done with winds. We will not see any more winds in that area,” said Mike…

Earlier this year, Rep. Nanette Barragán of Los Angeles and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, introduced legislation to protect community access to the fields.

Originally Published: December 31, 2024 at 9:14 AM PST

Chester Dawson

(Bloomberg) — Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are preparing to start negotiations on a possible merger, which could ultimately be expanded to include Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Japan’s Nikkei reported Tuesday.

Such a deal would create an automotive rival to Toyota Motor Corp. that would effectively consolidate the Japanese auto industry into two camps, and also provide Honda and Nissan with more resources to compete globally with larger peers. The move would follow a decision by the two companies earlier this year to work together on electric vehicle batteries and software.

At that time, Honda Chief Executive Officer Toshihiro Mibe floated the possibility of capital tie-up with Nissan.

While Honda and Nissan stopped short of confirming Tuesday’s report, both automakers issued statements that reiterated their previous pledges for further future cooperation.

“We will inform our stakeholders of any updates at an appropriate time,” Honda said in its statement.

The two major Japanese carmakers plan to sign a memorandum of understanding to discuss shared equity stakes in a new holding company under which the combined company would operate, the Nikkei said, without citing sources. The merger would help the manufacturers compete against rivals in electric vehicles such as Tesla Inc. and Chinese automakers, it said.

Nissan has stepped up restructuring efforts to cope with stalled revenue growth and lower profits. It faces pressure from an activist shareholder and daunting debt load that has led to speculation in credit markets about its investment grade rating. The carmaker has partially unwound a complex 25-year strategic partnership with France’s Renault SA.

The reported merger talks come after the Financial Times said last month that Nissan was looking for an anchor investor to replace part of Renault’s equity holding and that it hadn’t ruled out having Honda buy some of its shares.

Honda, which has its U.S. headquarters in Torrance, has been…

“Do you have a cat?” a colleague asks during a business meeting. We both look down at my black pants, which are covered in blonde fur.

“A dog,” I say, smiling meekly, “two, actually,” as if that somehow excuses my dogged appearance.

“I have a cat,” she says. “Same problem.”

Right, I think, only her clothes look immaculate. I mutter something about loving them anyway, then slink off in search of some masking tape to de-fur my pants.

I am not alone with this problem. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, 46 percent of U.S. households — nearly 90 million — have at least one dog, and 32 percent have at least one cat.

That is a lot of fur flying.

Even though I like a clean house, I’d rather have a life-filled home than a pristine show place. Shed happens, so I have found ways to bust the fuzz and meet fur halfway. Besides keeping a lint brush in several rooms of the house, and now, since the cat comment, in my car and purse, here are some more ways to combat fur-stration.

1. Start at the source. Of course, the best way to combat unwanted pet hair in the home is to keep it out of the home. First, if it’s not too late, pick a non-shedding dog breed. These have hair not fur. Pippin, my miniature labradoodle, does not shed but needs frequent trips to the groomers. Luke, my Great Pyrenees-German Shepherd mix, sheds for five dogs. Shedding dogs and all cats benefit from regular brushing, which helps remove excess fur. I use a hand mitt with rubber teeth and work over Luke’s coat like a curry comb once a week. (Do this outside.) During peak fur season, he goes to the groomers for a professional de-shedding.

2. Bust the fuzz. After Michael Sweigart, of New Jersey, got tired of literally wearing the hair shirt, he invented FurZapper. This squishy, reusable, doughnut-sized ring made of silicone has a super tacky surface that grabs fur while tumbling around with clothes and pet bedding in your washer and dryer, then releases it into…

Jimmy Buffett fans can sing along to “Margaritaville” for a good cause this month when a popular tribute band pays homage to the late singer in Hermosa Beach.

Jimmy’s Buffet, a nine-piece tribute band to the legendary singer, will be performing all of his hits at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach on Dec. 28.

The concert is the band’s annual birthday celebration for Buffett, who would have turned 78 on Dec. 25. Buffett died Sept. 1, 2023 of Merkel skin cancer. The band is going to donate all of its profits from this year’s Birthday Bash show to Merkel Cell research at merkelcell.org. The goal is to raise about $25,000.

The show will feature all of the singer’s classic hits like “Margaritaville,” “Fins” and “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” along with deep cuts that his diehard fans will recognize. And it’s going to be a beach party too with beach balls flying, leis everywhere and, of course, sing-alongs.

Jimmy Buffett Birthday Bash

When: 7 p.m. Dec. 28

Where: Saint Rocke, 142 Pacific Coast Highway, Hermosa Beach

Tickets: $24.95

Information: thejimmysbuffet.com

If you lived on the West Coast and watched television in the 1960s and 1970s, you couldn’t miss the Wally Bird commercials.

Originally Published: December 16, 2024 at 4:23 PM PST