INTHEHAT RECOGNIZES VALOROUS OFFICER MARK DIMITT
On January 15, 2003 Hollenbeck officers Mark Dimitt and James Lopez, confronted an armed suspect at the intersection of Newtonia Drive and Guardia Avenue. They were in the process of investigating an ADW, shots fired situation and they were directed to the suspect by a witness. They confronted the suspect at a bus stop and ordered him to raise his hands. The suspect reached into his waist area, produced a pistol and began firing at the officers. They returned fired and killed him. The subsequent investigation indicated that the suspect had shot and killed a barber just a few blocks away.

When we read this account, we were reminded that this is not Officer Mark Dimitt's first encounter with armed suspects. We came across Officer Dimitt's prior encounter with none other that Anthony "Tonito" Medina some time ago. If we recall correctly , this incident occurred in 1999. Dimitt and his partner at the time, Hollis Berdin, the wife of Northeast Detective John Berdin, made a vehicle stop on a pickup truck with three occupants at the intersection of York and Aldama. Unknown to the officers, the deviousTonito was lying in the pickup bed with a Glock model 17 pistol equipped with a laser sight. The gun was also equipped with a Plus 2 basepad in the magazine that brought the total round count in Tonito's gun to 19.

As the officers came to a stop behind the truck, Medina popped up and aimed the gun at them. Berdin and Dimitt later testified in court that they saw the red dot move from one to the other. They both bailed out, took cover and Dimitt fired one round at Medina. Untouched, Medina made like Road Runner and took off on foot with the gun. He still had the laser sight on and additional responding coppers literally followed the bouncing red dot right to where Medina hid out in the bushes of a vacant lot.

Tonito Medina, a hardened Avenues gangster and associate of Lil Pee Wee Aguirre, (younger brother of Alex Aguirre currently doing the whole book in Marion Federal Pen), was prosecuted and convicted of murder, a killing that put him on the LAPD wanted list. A few months before his encounter with Dimitt and Berdin, Medina murdered Luis Figueroa, a 19-year-old illegal alien from Mexico who Medina thought was making time with his girlfriend. It turns out, Figueroa barely knew the girl and he was really interested in another girl, a friend of Medina's girlfriend. Medina was also convicted of ADW on the two coppers.

Just to bring everything up to date, Medina is currently on trial again for two more murders -- Manuel Dellosa and Ferdie Olmedo -- two small fry allegedly in Pinoy Real, a Filippino gang in Northeast.

So, as we started off saying, here's our tip of the hat to Officer Dimitt for maintaining his cool and returning effective fire. Well done. And thanks for your service to this city.

STOP THE ELECTRONS. MAJOR UPDATE ON THE KENNY WILSON CASE.
As you all know by now, Wally Fay has been trying to peddle his Kenny Wilson and Robert Hightower racial homicide stories to every news outlet in LA with no luck. We won't get into the reasons here and now as to why the LA media has ignored this racially motivated murder. We'll leave that for the book. But we just learned that a major break just happened that may finally pull the other three shooters into the case. As you regular inthehat readers know, only Jose Delacruz is actually serving time for killing Wilson. Of the other three alleged shooters, Merced Cambero is still at large, (deleted) is doing 27 years in Corcoran on 4 counts of ADW, and Gilbert Saldana is facing murder charges on an unrelated case.

But something big has just happened that may finally give Wilson's family and friends the sense that justice has been done. Check back often. You'll hear it here first.

MCGHEE ARRAIGNED.
As we predicted, Timothy McGhee was arraigned on Monday, so apparently the LAPD's support of the deal persuaded the DA. See the previous postings for details. Lo and behold, the prosecutor in this case turns out to be DDA Anthony Manzella. You court watchers no doubt remember that Manzella successfully prosecuted Samuel Shabazz in the Lori Gonzalez murder case (she was Bernard Parks' granddaughter). In that case he ran 41 witnesses through in just 2 days of testimony and got a conviction. Manzella was also the prosecutor in the Santa Monica German tourist homicide. He got a conviction in that case as well. In fact, we can't remember a case in recent history that Manzella lost. We'll have to look deeper into this.

McGhee was charged with just one count murder, that of Margie Mendoza. No doubt as the case develops, new charges will be filed. From his previous outings, we know that Manzella is nothing if not a bulldog. The Mendoza count will just be the tip of the iceberg. Look for further filings.

A PERSONAL POST ON THE PASSING OF A FORMER MUJAHADEEN
I'll be attending a memorial service today for a dear Afghan friend who died this week of cancer, Sayed Hashemayer. He and the men in his family fought bravely on the side of freedom and justice in the Afghan war against the Communists. He migrated to the US after the Russians left and put three great kids on the earth, started a successful business in Canoga Park and brought his large extended family to California. Sayed was the kind of immigrant who made the US a great nation. We need more of his kind. He asked for nothing, achieved greatly through his own effort and intellect and was generous to a fault. The civic body has been diminished.

Half way down the trail to Hell
In a shady, meadow green,
Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
Near a good, old-time canteen,
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddler’s Green.

May the eternal one deliver Sayed to his Fiddler's Green.

MCGHEE PROSECUTION PROCEEDING SWIFTLY.
In our previous posting we also said we didn't know who McGhee's prosecutor would be. We still don't know. But we're told it's someone in Major Crimes and not Hard Core as we thought it might be. We'll find out this week if they formally file on McGhee. The DA's name is on the complaint and that's public information. Whoever it is, he or she will will be under the bright white light of media attention. This is a career maker. Or breaker.

In related matters, look for a connection between Toonerville Rifa (McGhee's gang) and two other gangs, Rascals (Latinos) and Pinoy Real (Filipino). Apparently Rascals and PRs have made an alliance as a "strength in numbers" policy. They fear the constant predations and attacks from Toonerville. Characters in Pinoy Real and Rascals will apparently figure prominently in the McGhee case. As usual, more to come.

MILLA SENTENCING CONTINUED TO APRIL 3
As it turned out, I was able to attend Marco Milla's sentencing today. But as is usual in a case like this, the sentencing was continued. Next date is April 3. The judge is Fred Wapner. The defense apparently will ask for another trial and Milla will probably get it. If not that, then at least an appeal. Meanwhile, the courtroom was empty of media except for me. Amazing that the LA Times, the Daily News and the Weekly will completely ignore this one the way they did Kenny Wilson's murder.

As long as I'm on the subject, today is the day that the last of the big LA media have turned down my story on Kenny Wilson and Robert Hightower. In order of refusal we have the Weekly, the LA Times, the Daily News, Fox 11 News, CBS 2 news and now Los Angeles Magazine. Kit Rachlis' assistant told me to I should go shop it somewhere else. Next stop, the out of town outlets.

MARCO MILLA SENTENCING
Tomorrow, Wally or myself will be in Dept. 114 on the 11th floor of the CCB to witness the sentencing of Marco Milla. If you've been paying attention to the race homicides being committed by Latinos against Blacks, you no doubt know that Milla was convicted of the racially motivated murder of Robert Hightower. Mr. Hightower was 19 when Milla executed him on sept. 29, 2001. This is the second racial homicide the LA media has failed to report. The first was Kenny Wilson. We wonder how many blacks will have their lives terminated before the media wakes up and starts reporting these race killings?

THE CHIEF WANTS YOU DETECTIVES TO GO MAKE SOME ARRESTS.
Chief Bratton stated today that detectives account for 20% of LAPD staff, but they only rack up about 2% of arrests. He wants to see more hook ups and less time drinking coffee at your desks and reading the paper. That is what all you detectives do, isn't it?

We know that's not the case. But we want to hear from you. In The Hat wants to know what you think of the Chief's latest mandate. As always, confidentiality is a sacred trust. Send rockets to wallyfay@yahoo.com

WE'RE SORRY WE DIDN'T MENTION THE TASK FORCE.
It was brought to our attention that we neglected to mention the work of the Metropolitan Task Force on Violent Crime when we posted the item about the RICO conviction of PANCHO VILLA and the CLCs. Our editorial face is red. The Task Force, deep in their unmarked Fortress of Solitude, has been doing amazing crime fighting work for almost ten years now -- and without much acknowledgement or recognition. Not that they want any, but we who know better, should have mentioned them and the work they did in delivering the CLCs to justice. Someday, the full story of the Task Force will be told and the people in the trenches, not to mention the stake out cars, the stay backs and the ones who do stuff we must not reveal will be fully and justly lionized for their work. Until then, keep at it. This town owes you.

YET ANOTHER MCGHEE UPDATE
We reported yesterday that LAPD and DA brass are considering cutting a deal with an unidentified convicted felon in exchange for his testimony against alleged multiple murderer Timothy Joseph McGhee, the Toonerville Ripper. What we've recently learned is that the prosecuting DA is apparently in favor of making a deal, while the brass at both agencies express concern. The concern revolves around this person's credibility in court. They figure that a jury will not accept the word of known gangbanger and convicted criminal to help convict an even worse gangbanger and alleged murderer. We understand that the prosecuting DA is confident in his abilities to convince a jury. We don't yet know who this DA is, but we'll run it here as soon as we find out. It's either somebody in Hard Core Gangs or Major Crimes. Anyone with further word on this, you know who to call -- wallyfay@yahoo.com

COLUMBIA LIL CYCOS AND PANCHO VILLA MARTINEZ CONVICTED ON RICO CHARGES
One more bad guy went down a few weeks ago when Francisco Martinez, aka Pancho Villa, was sentenced to life in prison plus sixty years. In addition, 22 other Lil Cycos were also convicted of various charges on the same RICO case. We hope that this will finally make Father Boyle and Celeste Fremon stop perpetuating the myth that RICO statutes don't work against street gangs because these gangs are "disorganized." If we've heard it once, we heard a million times from them. Will someone please tell Boyle and Fremon to cease and desist their completely unsupported assertions?

Martinez requested of Judge Lew that he be allowed to join his friends in prison. We wonder why. Could it be that people like Martinez continue to wield power, collect money and order hits from his cell? Oh, no. That's not possible according to Father Boyle. He continues to insist that La Eme has little influence outside prison walls. We'll soon be presenting on this Blog a list of the recently deceased who were greenlighted from prison. But these facts will probably never get in the way of Father Boyle's opinions. See our arguments against Boyle's misinformed assertions at the very bottom.

GILBERT "LUCKY" SALDANA FINALLY TO FACE JUSTICE
We've had our eye on Gilbert Saldana (dob 7/8/78) for quite some time. He's managed to elude justice on more than one occasion but this time it looks like he ran out of luck. No pun intended. He's currently in County awaiting trial on a murder count and a robbery count. Bail is set at a hefty $2,085,000. Prosecutor on this one is David Gelfound, energetic and competent and likely to get Saldana convicted. Mike Russo (APD) is defending and he's equally capable. It should be an interesting battle. Saldana is an Avenues member and when we first became aware of him, he was implicated in the racial murder of the unfortunate Kenny Wilson on Avenue 52 in 1999. The reason they killed Wilson? Simple. He was black. And they didn't want blacks in their neighborhood. This was proven in court. Saldana managed to slide on that one but one of the co-shooters in that caper, Jose (Clever) Delacruz will spend the rest of his life in jail for the Wilson homicide. As always, Saldana and all defendants are innocent of all charges until proven guilty.

This case reminds us that the LA media has yet to write or utter one word about the racial execution of Kenny Wilson. Wilson was ambushed and killed by the aforementioned Saldana and Delacruz, and they were joined in the shooting by (deleted) (currently serving 27 years for a quadruple ADW in an unrelated case) and Merced (Shadow) Cambero, still not in custody and flitting back and forth between Avenues territory and Mexico.

In the near future, we plan to post a full account of the Wilson homicide, which to us was every bit as brutal, hateful and deserving of media attention as the Jame Byrd case in Texas. Kudos to John Allen Ramseyer on successfully prosecuting Delacruz on murder and race crime allegations. This story should have been Page One material in the Times. But the paper never heard of it. Even after we told them about it. It is always baffling to us the stories the Times and the Weekly pick to cover and the ones they address with such thunderous silence.

WHO ARE WE?
We've received several emails wondering who we are and why we're doing this. We'll probably have to explain ourselves at some point so here goes. We are LA-based writers and journos who need to let the citizens of LA know what we know. You'll see things on this site that you will not read about in the Times, the LA Weekly or in any other mainstream outlet. Where do we get this info? From you people. You send us stuff. We verify, more or less, and then it goes up. We're only interested in what's going on here in LA with the coppers, the prosecutors, the gangsters and the politicians. If you've got something big that's happening in Milwaukee or New York. We don't care. We're only concerned about LA and the forces that are ripping this city apart.
For you coppers and prosecutors we need to let you know that we are not the LA Times. We don't check with the ACLU to figure out who the bad guys are. Anything forwarded to wallyfay@yahoo.com is totally and completely confidential. Speak freely. The truth will set us all free.

TURNER'S OUTDOORSMAN BUSTED ON GUN VIOLATION.
Turner's Outdoorsman's Reseda store was recently visited by an undercover officer from the gun detail who sold the store a subcompact Glock. As you should know, subcompact handguns have been banned in LA city. The manager who authorized the purchase of the gun intended to transfer it to their Pasadena store and sell it there. Subcompacts have not been banned in Pasadena. This is the latest effort in LA city's efforts to shut down or drive out every gun store in town. You should also know that B&B and Pony Express both closed their doors last year and the only game in town appears to be King's, which is technically in Burbank. That city has yet to launch an anti-gun campaign like LA. We don't yet know if Turner's will fight this in court or agree to stop selling guns, which is what LA city has been after all along. More as this develops.

TIMOTHY MCGHEE BACK IN LA.
Toonerville Rifa gangster Tim Mcghee was flown into Van Nuys airport yesterday afternoon after his extradition proceeding from Bullhead City. McGhee was on the US Marshall's 15 most wanted criminals for having committed or ordered 12 murders in the Atwater Village area where Toonerville operates. He was escorted back by Detective Scott Masterson, LAPD Fugitive Warrant unit. You won't read this in any other LA media but McGhee has a connection to the Mexican Mafia and will likely be received like a visiting monarch by the Eme shot callers when he hits County jail. The IO on the McGhee killings is said to be Northeast detective Andrew Teague who is also the IO in another very large case ready to go to trial in Superior Court. McGhee has been described as a compulsive killer who gets a real charge out of shooting people. Especially the unarmed and the innocent.

LA CITY COUNCIL VOTES AGAINST THE WAR
In one of the most disgraceful episodes in L.A. city history, the forces of the Left and the anti-American one-worlders have prevailed upon the city council to pass a resolution against going to war with Iraq. The effort was led by Eric Garcetti, the son of a disgraced ex-District Attorney Gil Garcetti. Garcetti will be remembered as the man who supervised the amateurish prosecution of double murderer O.J. Simpson, a slam-dunk prosecution that should have gone like clockwork. The son seems to be following the same muddle-headed path. An heir to the destructive ideologues that for the last forty years have eviscerated one of the greatest school systems in the country, emasculated one of the nation's most respected police agencies, and have allowed generations of criminals to prosper and multiply, Garcetti proudly crowed that grandmothers, mothers and children were united in a great cause of stopping a war. City councils do not make foreign policy. So this was an entirely futile exercise that occupied two entire days of council time. Mr. Garcetti should be personally held liable for frittering away the time of our public servants. Mr. Garcetti morally preens himself with these empty symbolic victories while the city he serves burns like Rome. Mr. Garcetti's constituents should immediately recall this tiresome fool.

THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN WHEN GUNS ARE OUTLAWED
A 79-year-old Torrance stamp and coin dealer shot and wounded a scumbag who tried to rob him today. The store owner, Kenneth Mahoney, had been robbed and beaten before but this time he was ready with a shotgun and knew how to use it. The robber's name is Joshua Edward Reyes, 20, of Torrance. Lt. Patrick Shortall who was the IO on the robbery said it was a "robbery interrupted by by the victim." We'd call it a failure in the victim selection process. Fortunately, we still live in a land where the lawful and free are not prevented from owning firearms. There is no guarantee this right will not be infringed by the spineless pols and Progressives who will not rest until they establish a totalitarian regime in what is the greatest country in the history of the planet. Know how to vote.

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM SANYIKA SHAKUR aka MONSTER KODY SCOTT
"Everything in my life has been subject to drastic change or subtle movement, without so much as a hint or forewarning."
That pretty much covers the entire spectrum of human experience, doesn't it? You're either moving fast, moving slow or just standing still. Is he being deprived of another rate of change available to everyone else? And nobody gets a memo saying, "Dear Bob, you're getting sideswiped on Wilshire tomorrow at 3:41. Please bring your insurance papers and a number 2 pencil." Five bucks to whoever can explain this to me. As usual send to wallyfay@yahoo.com.

UPDATE ON MIDNIGHT SPECIAL.
I just learned that Midnight Special is asking for volunteers to help move the books, the Michelin Tourist Guides to the Gulag, the stick-on Frida Kahlo moustaches and the autographed posters of Jane Fonda sitting at the anti-aircraft gun. Apparently they're reluctant to hire union labor and pay workers a living wage to haul the crap to the new location. Are they not cynically circumventing their obligation to the working masses by asking for free labor? What would the People's Revolutionary Committee say about this? I say condemn the fat cats running MS to the same fate as the kulaks.