Category Archives: LAPD

Woman in Stolen Car Shoots Gun at LAPD Officers

Posted on September 25, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 25, 1933: How did the Los Angeles Public Library fare in the Great Depression? Here are some answers. The library was forced to make painful cutbacks due to a 24% drop in tax revenue, including shorter hours, layoffs, reductions … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, LAPD, Pasadena, Suicide, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Bandit Killed, LAPD Officers Wounded in Burlesque Theater Shootout

Posted on September 18, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 18, 1933: Jack Keating, 30, and John Melvin Early, 35, had a plan to rob the Girlesque Theater at 510 S. Main St., but when the shooting was over, Keating was dead and Early and two men who helped … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Hollywood, LAPD, Main Street, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Bandit Killed, LAPD Officers Wounded in Burlesque Theater Shootout

Woman’s Body Found Behind Wall in Highland Park Home

Posted on September 13, 2013 by lmharnisch

Joseph and Anna Lewis, 2630 Johnston St., Highland Park, had been married for 42 when she disappeared. Not that Joseph, 72, a carpenter, was particularly concerned about her absence. Police were not informed of the disappearance until her daughter Shirley … Continue reading →

Posted in 1963, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Suicide | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Black Dahlia and ‘Double Indemnity’ – KCET Gets It Way Wrong

Posted on September 7, 2013 by lmharnisch

Is it really possible to write about the film “Double Indemnity” without mentioning Raymond Chandler, who collaborated on the screenplay, or James M. Cain, who wrote the book that was the basis for the film? Sadly, Ryan Reft (identified as … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, 1947, Black Dahlia, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

Man Kills Wife and Daughter, Commits Suicide Over Pink Bedroom

Posted on September 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 4, 1933: A streetcar broadsides an auto at the crossing on Olympic Boulevard between Broadway and Figueroa, killing two people and leaving two others near death, The Times said. A man fatally stabs his estranged wife and daughter, then … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Homicide, LAPD, Main Street, Nightclubs, San Fernando Valley, Streetcars, Suicide, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Black Dahlia: New ‘Evidence’ in George ‘Evil Genius’ Hodel Franchise

Posted on August 25, 2013 by lmharnisch

Black Dahlia breakthrough! Let us suppose that there was a mathematician. A retired mathematician who once taught at a major university, who published and received tenure, and retired as a well-regarded member of the faculty. Let us further suppose that … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

LAPD Women Join Marines

Posted on August 21, 2013 by lmharnisch

Aug. 21, 1943: Two women from the LAPD are joining the Marines: Lucy White, 26, who works in the fingerprinting department, and Margaret Davis, 22, of the record bureau. Judge Benjamin J. Scheinman is leaving the municipal bench to join … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Nightclubs, Stage, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

LAPD Spied on Mayor, Attorney General, Detective Says

Posted on August 16, 2013 by lmharnisch

Aug. 16, 1983: Former Times reporter Joel Sappell reports on allegations by Detective Michael J. Rothmiller that the LAPD’s Organized Crime Intelligence Division spied on Mayor Tom Bradley, then-Atty.Gen. John Van de Kamp, and other U.S., state, county and local … Continue reading →

Posted in 1983, City Hall, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Music, Stage, Television | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Black Dahlia: Still Waiting for Test Results on Soil From George ‘Evil Genius’ Hodel’s Murder HQ

Posted on August 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

Feb. 3, 2013: “Soil samples were taken and results are expected next week,” according to Christine Pelisek in the Daily Beast. We’re still waiting.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

L.A. Welcomes Harbor Freeway Extension With Four-Block Traffic Jam

Posted on August 8, 2013 by lmharnisch

Aug. 8, 1953: An extension of the Harbor Freeway carrying traffic into downtown Los Angeles opens — and is jammed immediately. Traffic engineers say the backup was caused by the timing of the signals at 6th Street and Figueroa. Movie … Continue reading →

Posted in 1953, African Americans, Comics, Film, Freeways, Hollywood, LAPD, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

‘Mysterious Objects’ in Skies Over L.A.

Posted on August 1, 2013 by lmharnisch

Comics characters of the 1950s got to drive MGs! Edward Irving Foote was born June 29, 1861, in Michigan. Someone by that name attended the University of Michigan at Lansing, class of 1877-78, and was described as a “farmer, miner, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1953, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Homicide, LAPD, Obituaries, Suicide | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on ‘Mysterious Objects’ in Skies Over L.A.

Tomahawk Murder: ‘It Must Have Been the Heat’

Posted on July 31, 2013 by lmharnisch

July 31, 1943: Los Angeles — and that is Los Angeles before air conditioning — bakes in a heat wave, temperatures so hot that it’s the reason for murder. “I had a sudden impulse; it must have been the heat,” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, San Fernando Valley, Suicide, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Black Dahlia: About Your ‘New’ Theory on the Killer

Posted on July 26, 2013 by lmharnisch

Every so often, I get emails or phone calls from people who want to share their Black Dahlia theories with me. I am a patient man. I always listen to what they say and I always read their emails. EVEN … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Pacoima Man Killed With Jack Handle in Gang Fight

Posted on July 15, 2013 by lmharnisch

Benito Mendivil Jr., 19, 10606 El Dorado Ave., had left his Pacoima gang for a rival one in San Fernando. On the night of Sunday, July 14, 1963, he had just driven away from his home in a car carrying … Continue reading →

Posted in 1963, LAPD, Latinos, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Pacoima Man Killed With Jack Handle in Gang Fight

‘Dead Man’ Killed in Fight Over a Penny

Posted on July 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

July 12, 1963: Curtiss A. Adams, the only man to survive the Jan. 31, 1957, crash of an F-89J and a DC-7B over Pacoima, testifies in a lawsuit between Douglas, which made the transport, and Northrop, which built the F-89J. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1963, Columnists, Comics, LAPD, San Fernando Valley | Comments Off on ‘Dead Man’ Killed in Fight Over a Penny

Police Smash Marihuana Ring

Posted on July 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

The Times publishes artist Charles H. Owen’s map of the Sicilian invasion. Owens’ artwork is featured in “Nuestro Pueblo,” one of my favorite books on Los Angeles. July 11, 1943: LAPD officers and state narcotics agents raid an apartment at … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, A Kinder, Simpler Time, LAPD, Music | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Chicago Schools to Teach Sex Education; Work Crew Digs Up Skeleton

Posted on July 10, 2013 by lmharnisch

New straw hats at Mullen & Bluett, Broadway and 6th Street. Straw hats are “jaunty, clever, correct.” But we knew that, right? July 10, 1913: Sex “hygiene” will be taught in the Chicago high schools after a vote by the … Continue reading →

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Vice Cop Kills Robber in Botched Holdup at the Roost

Posted on July 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

June 26, 1953: A big, screamer headline in The Times. Glenn Elbert Kingsbury, shot in the chest by an LAPD vice officer, staggered backward into the Roost Cafe, which he had just robbed, and collapsed on the floor, moaning: “Oh … Continue reading →

Posted in 1937, 1953, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Nightclubs | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

LAPD Central Police Station – Found on EBay

Posted on July 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

This photo labeled as the Central Police Station has been listed on EBay as part of a collection of photos from the estate of former Deputy Chief Cleveland Heath, who died in Phoenix in 1956 at the age of 71. … Continue reading →

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Teen Convicted in Bloody Killing of Girl, 12

Posted on June 27, 2013 by lmharnisch

June 27, 1943: The “Greatest Generation” isn’t getting enough “bulk.” Let’s rename Bunker Hill as Angels’ Terrace. Or not. The Courtemanche family lived in the old Sepulveda place at 751 N. Palos Verdes St., on a hill above the Wilmington-San … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments