Los Angeles residents are planning to protest for more police protection, through the organization AntiCrimeLA, as brazen crimes continue to plague the city and surrounding areas. Many residents are scared to venture out of their homes wearing jewelry or anything of value for fear of being attacked or robbed by convicted criminals, many of which are repeat offenders. There is also an uptick of home invasions some in broad daylight which has residents on edge. This article details some of the injustices that have happened in both cities.
In August of this year, a restaurant owner tackles an attacker who punched and robbed an elderly man in Hollywood, California. An elderly man having lunch in Hollywood was viciously attacked and robbed – but the quick thinking of a good Samaritan who happened to see it all saved his life. Ratcliff owns Shin Hollywood, a sushi restaurant on La Brea Avenue near where the attack happened, and said he had just stepped outside when he saw it all unfold. The frightening and unprovoked attack was caught on surveillance video. The elderly man was sitting down having lunch when footage shows the attacker walk up to him and suddenly punch him in the face.
As the attacker attempts to flee with the man’s wallet and cell phone, Timothy Ratcliff took action. The caught-on-camera incident happened the same day the LAPD announced it is adding 200 officers to the Hollywood division to address the spike in crime, FOX 11 reported. “Even one of the officers and I talked about it … they’re tired of it … a lot of people like myself are tired of this type of thing happening … we’re seeing more and more people just not putting up with it and taking it into their own hands … which I’m glad for … and I’d happily do it again,” Ratcliff said. It was reported that the attacker is a repeat offender and has a criminal record.
Another type of crime that has captured Los Angeles residents’ attention, yet is not taken seriously by police, is stalking. The most egregious example of this happened earlier this year. Jose Luis Fitoria Jr., age 50, was accused of preying on a young female influencer and model (Victim X). Court documents show these acts consisting of stalking, harassment, intimidation, and threats, occurred in the workplace at XY Systems/Zeppo Products (XY/Zeppo) located out of a Bel Air, CA business owner’s home office. Fitoria is a repeat offender and has an extensive violent criminal history. He has previously been found guilty on 5 charges, including being arrested related to domestic violence, as he has battered the mother of his children. In the workplace (Xy/Zeppo) he boasted about doing time, having a gun, community service, and beating up an ex-girlfriend. He let Victim X know he was cyber stalking her and she would receive phone calls from the Glendora area. Documents state that on one instance Fitoria stood over Victim X’s desk, screaming and pounding his chest. Witnesses corroborated this. The attacks were also captured on the security camera.
Victim X was intimidated, extorted, threatened with harm, received retaliation, and was further harassed by her employer to drop attaining a restraining order against Fitoria. Documents show that there were seven attempts to serve Fitoria at his home in Glendora, California and that Fitoria was hiding in his home and had installed new surveillance cameras to block process servers. Based on the declaration Fitoria’s coconspirator, Roxanna Yolanda Guevara Monterrey wrote, it is determined Fitoria also does work for restaurants Della Terra and HauteMess. Beverly Hills residents and Bel Air residents wish to see this case taken to a higher court. A Beverly Hills resident who wishes to go by the name Brent T. stated “I am terrified that this criminal is still allowed to roam our neighborhoods, putting our daughters, wives, sisters, and mothers in danger. I hope Victim X presses charges against these criminals.” Katie Lee, said “I am a resident of Bel Air so I appreciate this being reported. I do not want this type of filth, convicted criminals, in my neighborhood! Shame on this business owner.”
A furious Los Angeles mom who was mowed down with her baby by a hit-and-run teen driver has lashed out at soft-on-crime District Attorney George Gascon after the perp was given just five months probation. The mother, only identified as Rachel, took aim at LA’s top prosecutor in a scathing victim impact statement after the 16-year-old driver was ordered to participate in a diversionary program over the August 2021 incident, Fox News reported. “George Gascon doesn’t value my life or the life of my child, or any other victim out there, and would rather reward the monsters like [the juvenile suspect] by demonstrating to them that their actions have no consequences,” Rachel wrote.
“DA Gascon is telling him and every other thug in LA County that it doesn’t matter if you try to murder people. Why are Gascon’s policies prioritizing the livelihood of rotten monsters when my child, my baby, who is incapable of protecting himself, is left to fend for himself, and is essentially being told his life doesn’t matter?” Shocking surveillance video of the incident showed the teen plowing directly into Rachel as she pushed her 8-month-old son in his stroller down a Venice street in the morning.
The suspect accused of brutally beating another man in an unprovoked attack after following him outside a New York City restaurant is back on the street, as the attempted murder charges he faced have been downgraded. Police said Bui Van Phu was out of jail Thursday on supervised release, and he now just faces assault and harassment charges — neither of which are bail-eligible, the Bronx district attorney’s office said. The 52-year-old victim, identified by his brother as Jesus Cortez, was in front of Fuego Tipico Restaurant on 188th Street in Fordham Heights around 10:45 p.m. on Aug. 12, surveillance video showed. In jarring footage of the attack, Phu can be seen calmly walking up behind Cortez, arms folded low behind his back. Phu, 55, then slugs him violently with his right arm, the right hook to the head immediately rendering Cortez unconscious on the ground. Phu stands over the motionless victim, looking down on him for a moment before walking back inside the restaurant. Police said there was no prior conversation or argument before the attack.
Many more of these attacks have occurred in New York City, such as a woman being slashed by a box cutter in Times square. A broad daylight box cutter attack was captured on camera in the heart of New York City’s tourist hub. The New York Police Department released video on Sunday showing a male — seen wearing a black zip up jacket and gray or white sweatpants — rush up behind a woman at approximately 10 a.m. in the area of 7th Avenue and West 42nd Street in the bustling tourist destination Times Square. Taking a wide swipe, the assault suspect slashed a woman wheeling what appears to be a cart for groceries with a box cutter in what police said was an “unprovoked attack.”
As a result of the soft on crime policies, the number of prosecutors fleeing the city’s district attorneys offices has spiraled in the wake of criminal justice reforms that have created what one ex-top prosecutor called “insanity.” Sixty five assistant district attorneys, or about 12 percent of the staff, have resigned so far this year from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón got a lucky break when his opponents failed to gather enough valid signatures to put a recall on the ballot. If it had gone before voters, the recall had a good chance of winning, a new poll shows.
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