Century City/ Westwood JANUARY 29 – FEBRUARY 26, 2021
NEWS CenturyCity-WestwoodNews.com
FBI Arrest Man for Stalking Female Doctors at West Los Angeles VA Gueorgui Hristov Pantchev faces up to five years in federal prison By Sam Catanzaro A man who recently moved to an apartment only blocks from the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center was arrested recently on a federal stalking charge that alleges a longtime harassment campaign targeting two female doctors at the hospital, as well as three other victims who work at the VA’s Loma Linda facility. Gueorgui Hristov Pantchev, 49, of West Los Angeles, was arrested without incident January 22 by FBI special agents. Pantchev was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed January 22 that details his conduct that began in 2011 with numerous threatening communications sent to West L.A. VA doctors identified as Victim #1 and Victim #2. As a result of this harassment,
Pantchev was charged by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and was convicted in 2014 of nine counts of stalking and witness intimidation. After serving a state prison sentence, Pantchev was paroled in 2017 and he was barred from the West L.A. VA Medical Center. Pantchev then began seeking medical services at the VA’s Loma Linda facility, where he “started stalking, harassing, and intimidating Victims #3, #4, and #5,” according to the affidavit in support of the complaint. Notwithstanding the parole conditions that prohibited him from going to the West L.A. facility, Pantchev last year sought care there and began sending intimidating communications to colleagues of Victims #1 and #2. “Pantchev has now deluged Victims #1 and #2 and their colleagues with hundreds of lewd, sexually explicit, and false fliers bearing large pictures of Victim #1 and Victim #2 that Pantchev has distributed around West Los Angeles day after day,” this affidavit states. “Some of these fliers include inflammatory, racist language that Pantchev falsely attributes to Victims #1 and #2 along with their contact
Photo: VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (Facebook)
information and requests the reader to ‘Get rid of them, PLEASE.’” The criminal complaint contains specific
examples of communications sent to the
FBI Arrest, see page 5
Firm Selected to Lead West LA Civic Center Redevelopment AvalonBay Communities and Abode Communities selected to revitalize West Los Angeles Civic Center By Chad Winthrop AvalonBay Communities and Abode Communities have been selected to revitalize and redevelop West Los Angeles Civic Center site. As designed by KoningEizenberg Architecture, executive architect AC Martin, and landscape architect OLIN, West LA Commons calls for a vibrant mixed-use community to replace the run down and underutilized complex with a mixed-use community that provides open space, a community gathering place and affordable housing. The 8-acre project site, bounded by Santa Monica Boulevard, and Corinth, Iowa, and Colby Avenues, is currently home to municipal
offices, the Felicia Mahood Multipurpose Senior Center, and a closed courthouse. “Our vision for West LA Commons will bring equitable housing opportunities to a highly-resourced neighborhood on the Westside,” said Robin Hughes, President & CEO of Abode Communities. “The proposed mix of residential, commercial, and civic uses will ultimately create a vibrant, interconnected neighborhood core for the community and residents alike.” The development proposes 926 housing units, including 431 affordable and moderateincome units (including family, senior, and supportive units) and 495 market-rate apartments. A 73,400-square-foot municipal office building restores the site’s original intent as a place for civic engagement and connects to a redeveloped Felicia Mahood Multipurpose Center, a 20,900-square foot community center serving seniors living in West Los Angeles. More than 41,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, including a new community art gallery/flex-use space at the Courthouse Arts Pavilion, extends Santa Monica Boulevard’s pedestrian corridor while linking the site’s core community uses to the neighborhood at-large.
Some 118,000 square feet of publicly accessible open space includes “The Plaza,” the site’s community core featuring the historic Bandstand and flexible use space. LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl expressed enthusiasm about the plan as proposed. “AvalonBay and Abode Communities have extensive experience developing mixed-use housing and retail projects in Los Angeles, and successfully engaging local residents
throughout the development process,” said Kuehl. “At the end of the day, this project is sure to be a welcome new asset in the community.” Under the terms of the process outlined by LA County and the City of Los Angeles last year when they issued a Request for Proposals from developers, the AvalonBayAbode Communities team will now enter
Civic Center, see page 2