INSIDE INGLEWOOD-Inglewood homeowners in the idyllic suburban setting east of Crenshaw have had one question on their mind since last week’s police shoot-out on S. 5th Avenue: Where were the city’s so-called leaders during the nine-hour siege that brought hundreds of police officers from eight or more agencies?
Last Wednesday at approximately 12:30 p.m., a hostage situation resulted when Inglewood police officers answered a domestic call at 10709 S. 5th Avenue. Two officers were injured during a firefight between an apparently lone gunman holding a mother and her daughter hostage inside the house.
Inglewood Police Department’s SWAT team was stationed behind the yellow tape on 108th Street and 7th Avenue. Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputies controlled the area and all entry points while an LAPD helicopter circled overhead. No fewer than eight police agencies, including the CHP, Gardena PD and Manhattan Beach PD were on-site throughout the day and into the night.
Throughout the incident, Inglewood’s mayor, James T. Butts, failed to appear. He alleges to live two blocks from where the media was staged all day at 104th St. and 5th Ave.
Also absent were IPD’s chief, Mark Fronterotta, and District 4 council member Ralph Franklin. The mayor personally appointed Fronterotta earlier this year. Franklin has been D-4 council member since September, 2003. District 4 is the area where the siege occurred.
The one city leader who was present was District 2’s Alex Padilla.
Exiting 3rd Avenue from behind the yellow tape, Padilla said that he felt the situation was one that would end well.
Families around the house were evacuated by police up to 104th Street.
During the siege, residents had other questions. “How is it that we have had a bunch of shootings the last few months in this area since [Fronterotta] became chief? We haven’t had anything like this in decades,” said one resident who has lived in the area since the late 1960s. Other long-time residents along the blocked-off north side of 104th echoed similar sentiments throughout the day. None wanted to be named, however, voicing concerns that it could leave them targeted by the mayor.
The mayor, who maintains that he lives at the corner of 102nd Street and 4th Avenue, was not available for comment nor was at city hall. Neither he nor his executive assistant, Melanie McDade, answered or returned calls. At one point, a woman who would only say her name was “Cydia” answered one call and said both were out for the day.
Reached via e-mail, Fronterotta responded with an “out-of-office autoreply” that stated, “I will return to my office on Wednesday, December 4, 2013. Should you need further assistance please contact the listed supervisors [sic].”
The suspect, 45-year old Christopher Warsaw, was transported to South L.A. Sheriff’s Station and booked for attempted murder. Bail was set at $1 million.
(Randall Fleming is a veteran journalist and magazine publisher. He has worked at and for the New York Post, the Brooklyn Spectator and the Los Feliz Ledger. He is currently editor-in-chief at the Morningside Park Chronicle, a monthly newspaper based in Inglewood, CA and on-line at www.MorningsideParkChronicle.com. Views expressed and/or conclusions reached by Mr. Fleming are his and do not necessarily reflect those of CityWatch.) Photo credit: Randall Fleming.
-cw
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CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 97
Pub: Dec 3, 2013