Century City/ Westwood MARCH 26 – APRIL 23, 2021
NEWS CenturyCity-WestwoodNews.com
Safety Upgrades for Intersection After Fatal Collision Involving Minor Driving a Lamborghini Safety upgrades coming to Olympic and Overland By Sam Catanzaro Last month a teenager driving a Lamborghini was arrested for vehicular manslaughter after fatal collision in Rancho Park. Now safety improvements are coming to the intersection intended to prevent future tragedies. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, on February 17 around 5:10 p.m., a black Lamborghini SUV was traveling eastbound on Olympic Boulevard when it collided with a silver, four-door, Lexus traveling westbound on Olympic Boulevard in Rancho Park, negotiating a left turn to proceed southbound on Overland Avenue. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the scene and immediately rendered aid to the driver of the Lexus. Unfortunately,
the driver, 32-year-old Monique Munoz, succumbed to her injuries and died at the scene. The male, juvenile driver of the Lamborghini was transported to a local hospital where he was admitted for medical attention. On February 23, he was booked for vehicular manslaughter. The case will proceed through the judicial process. The family of Muñoz has been demanding that the 17-year-old be charged as an adult. In the wake of the incident, Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz has announced that safety improvements will be coming to the intersection of Overland Avenue and Pico Boulevard intended to prevent such crashes in the future. “While it shouldn’t take a tragedy to make our streets safer, Councilmember Koretz and his staff are grateful to LADOT for their promptness in initiating the permanent installation of Westbound and Eastbound turn signals at that intersection,” reads a recent newsletter from the Concilmember. According to his office, LADOT is
Photo: Councilmember Paul Koretz
LADOT working on safety improvements at the intersection of Overland and Olympic.
determined to complete the project in 4 to 6 weeks, a fast turn around time. “Typically, traffic signal upgrades
are designed to go out to bid and take approximately two years to complete,” Koretz said.
LAPD Pre-Identifies Century City and Westwood as Potential Looting Targets LAPD says there are no specific intelligence threats but still ready to pre-deploy officers By Sam Catanzaro As the trial against Derek Chauvin– the police officer charged with killing George Floyd–began in Minneapolis last month, the LAPD says it has identified Century City and Westwood as potential targets for looting and vandalism in the event of unrest, despite having no specific intelligence threats. Last week, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) West Los Angeles Area Captain Jonathan Tom notified residents and business owners the department is preparing for different reactions to the trial. According to Tom, the West Los Angeles division does not have any specific intelligence regarding potential unrest in the area, but has pre-identified locations that are likely to be
targets of looting, vandalism and protests. “We do not know when the trial will conclude, but we do know that there are some in the community that are concerned about the potential for civil unrest,” Tom wrote in a letter. “My purpose in communicating with you is to let you know that West Los Angeles Area (WLA) and the Department are diligently preparing for different reactions to the trial. That being said, we fervently hope for a peaceful reaction to the outcome of the trial.” In a phone call with Century City-Westwood News, Tom said that the Westside locations are Westfield Century City, Westwood Village, Palisades Village and Wilshire Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard corridors. “If it becomes necessary, we will pre-deploy officers to those locations,” Tom said. In addition, Tom noted that the Department is conducting tabletop exercises to evaluate its preparedness. In the phone call, Tom stressed that there is no indication of any unrest at the present time but, but that the LAPD is still preparing for the possibility in the same way they did ahead of Election Day and Inauguration Day.
While budget cuts has led to an overall reduction of LAPD officers citywide, Tom says the number of patrol officers on the Westside has increased. “While we have had a reduction in overall Department personnel, the Chief of Police
has directed more resources to be allocated to patrol divisions. As a result, you may have noticed more black and white patrol vehicles driving around your neighborhoods. In my time at West LA, we have never had so many officers in patrol as we do now,” Tom wrote.