East Valley News: 2 Men Found Shot to Death in Apartment

Editor's note: These are Police/Fire stories from areas the San Fernando Valley east of the 405 Freeway not covered by Patch. Check North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch, Studio City Patch and Sherman Oaks Patch for new in those areas.

Panorama City

Los Angeles detectives were looking today for suspects in the shooting deaths of two men whose bodies were found in a Panorama City apartment, a police spokesman said.

A passerby peered through an open door at an apartment in the 7900 block of Brimfield Avenue at 11 p.m. Saturday and saw the bodies, said Los Angeles police spokesman Bruce Borihanh.

The men, ages 35 and 26, had suffered gunshot wounds and paramedics pronounced them dead at the scene, Borihanh said. Their names were withheld pending notification of next of kin.

No suspects have been, and it is unknown if the shootings are gang- related, Borihanh said.

This incident was also overheard on the police scanner in Patch's Scanner Report:

Burbank

Two men suspected of tying two men and a woman up during a home-invasion robbery in Burbank were arrested last week.

The robbery occurred around 9:20 a.m. at a home in the 1600 block of Scott Road, said Sgt. Darin Ryburn of the Burbank Police Department.

"Two male suspects, armed with handguns, entered the residence, where the victims were sleeping," Ryburn said. "The suspects bound the victims and then ransacked the residence."

Daryl Banks, 45, of Compton and Robert Grogan, 48, of Sun Valley, stole computers, jewelry, cash and a handgun before fleeing the scene, Ryburn said.

The victims, all in their 20s, were able to free themselves and called for help.

Police arrested Banks and Grogan in Los Angeles based on descriptions from the victims and other follow up investigation, Ryburn said.

The two were booked at the Burbank Police Department jail for armed robbery. They are each being held in lieu of $100,000 bail and are expected to be arraigned Monday.

Burbank

Police sought the public's help in identifying a suspect who threw a brick through the window of Burbank city councilman's medical office. (See attached photos.)

Officers were sent to the office of Dr. David Gordon in the 800 block of Hollywood Way around 10:10 p.m. May 28 in response to the vandalism, according to a Burbank Police Department statement. Gordon, an optometrist, maintains an office at 851 N. Hollywood Way.

Surveillance video showed the vandal arriving in a 2005-2006 silver or gray Toyota Tundra pickup truck with a matching cargo area cover, chrome rims and a sticker in the left corner of the rear window, it said. He was described as a possibly white male, about 5 feet 10, with a heavy build, wearing a baseball cap, dark hoodie with white lettering on the front, and light-colored shorts.

Anyone with information about the crime was urged to call Burbank police at (818) 238-3279.

Van Nuys

A 26-year-old gang member was sentenced last week to eight life prison terms, plus 125 years, for a shooting outside a Van Nuys home that killed a 4-month-old boy and wounded his pregnant babysitter and a young man.

Ricardo Hernandez was convicted April 16 of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder for the Sept. 27, 2009, slaying of Andrew Garcia, who was being fed inside a car by a babysitter while his parents and friends, including an 18-year-old man, stood nearby.

Police said the group got into an argument with two people walking across the street, one of whom opened fire. Six shots were fired, striking the infant, the pregnant woman and the 18-year-old man.

Hernandez fled the country after the shooting but was captured by Mexican authorities in the state of Jalisco almost a year later and returned to the United States.

Co-defendant Alfonzo Landa, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was sentenced in January to 30 years to life in prison after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter and three counts of attempted murder.