By Los Angeles County Politics (LACP)
Man sentenced to life without parole for murder of off-duty Monterey Park officer
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced yesterday that Carlos Daniel Delcid was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2022 murder of off-duty Monterey Park Police Officer Gardiel Solorio, who was shot and killed in a Downey gym parking lot during an attempted carjacking.
A jury convicted Delcid, now 24, in May of first-degree murder, shooting at an occupied vehicle, robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon, and found true a special-circumstance allegation that the killing occurred during an attempted carjacking.
“Having recently graduated from the police academy, Officer Solorio had a bright career ahead of him where he took an oath to protect others, but on his day off, he was violently ambushed and fatally shot,” said Hochman. “While no sentence can replace a life that was senselessly taken, I hope knowing that Mr. Delcid will spend his life behind bars will bring closure to Officer Solorio’s family.”
Prosecutors said Delcid approached Solorio’s car on Aug. 8, 2022, with two accomplices, demanding it at gunpoint. When Solorio tried to reverse away, Delcid fired five shots at close range before fleeing with Gerardo Magallanes and a 17-year-old accomplice, both of whom were prosecuted separately.
Magallanes pleaded no contest last September to voluntary manslaughter and unlawful firearm possession and was sentenced to nearly 25 years, while the minor was tried in adult court and sentenced to 11 years.
Delcid was prosecuted by Assistant Head Deputy District Attorney Geoffrey Lewin and Deputy District Attorney Michelle Weiske of the Crimes Against Peace Officers Division.
Price’s lawyers make last bid to kill corruption case before trial
Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Casey Higgins is opposing a bid by Los Angeles City Councilman Curren Price‘s defense team to have his felony public corruption case thrown out before trial, with a hearing on the motion continuing this week in downtown Los Angeles before Judge Larry Paul Fidler.
Price’s attorneys filed a roughly 1,400-page motion under Penal Code Section 995 asking Fidler to set aside the felony information — effectively asking him to revisit findings a different judge already made after a six-day preliminary hearing that ordered Price to stand trial on all 12 original counts.
Higgins responded with a 23-page opposition arguing the defense is re-litigating issues already decided. Fidler heard arguments on the motion Friday and had not yet ruled as of press time.
When a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered Price to stand trial in February, rejecting an earlier defense motion to dismiss the case, Hochman said: “This is a significant step toward holding L.A. Councilmember Curren Price accountable for years of alleged corruption. Our Public Integrity Division has been prepared to go to trial since the charges were originally filed. The rules are clear: elected officials cannot enrich themselves at the expense of their constituents, cannot lie on disclosure forms, and cannot vote on matters in which they have a conflict of interest.”
Price, a Los Angeles City Councilman since 2013, is charged with 14 felony counts, including embezzlement of government funds, conflict of interest and perjury, tied to allegations that he voted on city and county funding measures that benefited a company owned by his wife, Delbra Pettice Richardson, without disclosing the conflict.
If convicted as charged, he faces up to 11 years and four months in custody. Price, who is termed out at the end of 2026, has pleaded not guilty and maintains his innocence.
Noguez corruption trial resumes with testimony on decade-old scheme
Deputy District Attorney Bobby Zoumberakis of the Public Integrity Division continues presenting the People’s case this week against former Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez — born Juan Renaldo Rodriguez — as testimony resumes in a corruption trial more than 13 years in the making.
Noguez and co-defendants Ramin Salari and Mark McNeil are accused of manipulating the county’s property tax assessment system, allegedly reducing valuations for wealthy developers and property owners in exchange for campaign donations and other benefits — a scheme prosecutors say cost taxpayers roughly $12 million.
The trial, which opened in April, has featured extensive testimony on the mechanics of the assessor’s office alongside financial records tied to the case.
In his opening statement, Zoumberakis told jurors the case was about corruption and greed, according to Courthouse News Service, and that Noguez and his co-defendants had “manipulated the property tax collection system to gain political power, to rise up in the assessor’s office, to secure tax breaks for wealthy developers and to gain money.”
The trial’s expected star witness is Scott Schenter, a former assessor’s office employee who agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and is expected to testify that Noguez gave veiled orders such as “take care of my donors” rather than direct instructions to lower property values.
Noguez’s attorney, Anthony Falangetti, has said his client is innocent of all charges.
Accused Eaton Fire looters return to Pasadena court 19 months later
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman‘s office this week is prosecuting two people accused of looting homes during the Eaton Fire.
Rudy Salazar and Lucia Jilrara Perez are each charged with two counts of first-degree residential burglary, accused of entering two homes in Altadena and stealing property on Jan. 8, 2025, while the Eaton Fire was actively burning.
They were among nine people charged with wildfire-related looting and a tenth charged separately with arson in Azusa when Hochman’s office announced the charges days after the fires broke out.
“These crimes are appalling and represent a direct attack on our community during a time of unprecedented loss and vulnerability. Let me be clear: If you exploit this tragedy to prey on victims of these deadly fires, we will find you and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” said Hochman when he announced the charges in January 2025.
The case is one of dozens Hochman’s office has brought against people accused of exploiting the January 2025 wildfires, part of a broader pattern of looting, arson and fraud prosecutions tied to the disaster that has continued well into this year.
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Melany Avanessians of the Pasadena Branch.
