A felony is a crime that is punishable with death, by imprisonment in the state prison, or notwithstanding any other provision of law, by imprisonment in a county jail under the provisions of subdivision (h) of Section 1170. Every other crime or public offense is a misdemeanor except those offenses that are classified as infractions.

When a crime is punishable, in the discretion of the court, either by imprisonment in the state prison or imprisonment in a county jail under the provisions of subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or by fine or imprisonment in the county jail, it is a misdemeanor for all purposes under the following circumstances:

After a judgment imposing a punishment other than imprisonment in the state prison or imprisonment in a county jail under the provisions of subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

When the court, upon committing the defendant to the Division of Juvenile Justice, designates the offense to be a misdemeanor.

When the court grants probation to a defendant without imposition of sentence and at the time of granting probation, or on application of the defendant or probation officer thereafter, the court declares the offense to be a misdemeanor.

When the prosecuting attorney files in a court having jurisdiction over misdemeanor offenses a complaint specifying that the offense is a misdemeanor, unless the defendant at the time of his or her arraignment or plea objects to the offense being made a misdemeanor, in which event the complaint shall be amended to charge the felony and the case shall proceed on the felony complaint.

When, at or before the preliminary examination or prior to filing an order pursuant to Section 872, the magistrate determines that the offense is a misdemeanor, in which event the case shall proceed as if the defendant had been arraigned on a misdemeanor complaint.

In Van Nuys CA, on Thursday, November 19, 2020, at 7:15 p.m., a 2013 black Lexus SUV was travelling westbound on Burbank Blvd at Natick Ave. A male passenger from the Lexus exited the moving vehicle and fell onto the roadway. An unknown light-colored sedan travelling westbound Burbank Blvd struck the male passenger while on the roadway. The driver of the sedan failed to stop, identify his or herself and render aid as required by law.

 Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the scene and pronounced the male passenger dead at the scene. He was a male, approximately 24 years- old. His name will not be released until next of kin is notified. Luckily, the driver of the Lexus didn’t sustain any injuries from the collision.

So far, this investigation is ongoing and no arrest was made at scene.

It is important for drivers to know they should pull over and stop as soon as it is safe to do so, notify emergency services, and remain at the scene to identify themselves if they are involved in a collision.

On April 15, 2015, the City Council amended the Los Angeles Administrative Code and created a Hit and Run Reward Program Trust Fund. A reward of up to $50,000 is available to community members who provide information leading to the offender’s identification, apprehension, and conviction or resolution through a civil compromise.

Anyone with information about this collision is asked to contact Valley Traffic Investigator Garcia at 818-644-8117. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call CrimeStoppers at 800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact CrimeStoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on “webtips” and follow the prompts.

After a COVID-19-related push to drop Los Angeles County’s jail population by roughly 5,000 inmates to prevent the spread of the virus, the amount of prisoners has grown by nearly 15%, according to a report posted to the county’s website.

As of Aug. 27, the countywide jail population was 13,280, up from a low of 11,723 just a few months ago. That uptick was attributed in part to restrictions on transfers during the coronavirus pandemic that have put thousands of individuals in limbo awaiting relocation to state prisons or state hospitals.

In May, a transfer of 121 inmates from a state prison in Chino is thought to have been responsible for an outbreak at San Quentin that infected more than 2,200 inmates in the Bay Area lockup and killed more than two dozen inmates and employees.

The total puts the county back over the system’s state-rated capacity of 12,404, according to a working group tasked with figuring out how the county might close the downtown Men’s Central Jail.

Bookings have also increased, as the Men’s Central Jail numbers jumped by 11% in the first two weeks of August, according to analysis provided by the Vera Institute of Justice for the county report. Crimes that dropped sharply during the early months of the pandemic, including violent crimes, have increased as some public restrictions have been lifted, according to both the Los Angeles Police Department and county Sheriff’s Department.

The update, submitted to the board with a letter from Dr. Christina Ghaly, who runs the county’s hospital and clinic system, was dated Sept. 9 and posted recently

Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail holds about 30% of the county’s jail inmates and is located close to the downtown criminal courthouse.  The working group is tasked with determining how it could relocate thousands of inmates from that facility without creating overcrowding elsewhere.

Posting Bail At Van Nuys Jail

 Posting Bail at Van Nuys Jail refers to the nominal amount of money which needs to be deposited to ensure that the defendant attends their court appearances after being released from jail. Bail can be posted by anybody, and is returned to the payee, presuming the defendant attends their court hearings. Posting bail for an inmate at Van Nuys Jail can be done in several ways. It can be paid in cash, directly to Van Nuys Jail, or it can be paid in the form of a cashier’s check or a money order.

Cash Bail

Cash bail can be paid in person, directly to Van Nuys Jail. Bail must be paid in full. If the inmate attends their court hearings, the bail will be returned to you in full, after the conclusion of the court proceedings. Should the inmate fail to attend their court hearings, or otherwise breach the conditions of their bail, your money will be retained by the court.

Cashier’s Checks

You can pay bail in full- by a certified California bank-drawn cashier’s check. Cashier’s checks must include the inmate’s full name as well as their booking number and be made payable to the LA Police Department’s Bail account. 



Bail Bonds

By using a Bail Bonds Company, you can avoid having to come up with 100% of the bail amount in cash. In general, a Bail Bondsman will make you pay 10% of the bail amount, and the company will pay the rest. However, even if you or a loved one make all required court appearances, the 10% of bail you paid to the Bail Bondsman will not be refunded. You can easily find a local Van Nuys Bail Bondsman by searching online.

As you can see, there are a variety of ways to bail out of Van Nuys Jail

People who are arrested and booked at West Hollywood Jail are being exposed on the Internet. An online publication is now allowing its users to view who has been arrested in West Hollywood including names, ages and the crime they — for alleged crimes from misdemeanors to felonies.

Not everyone is in favor having arrests being made public. Some in the community said they are upset and called this nothing more than public shaming, but the man behind WEHOville said residents have the right to know.

“WEHOville is committed to publishing the facts about arrestees who have been taken to West Hollywood Jail, without fear or favor,” publisher Hank Scott said in a statement. “Those facts have included the felony convictions of a recent city commissioner and revelations of lawsuits against various people who have run for City Council.”

Some of the crimes posted range from rape to driving with a suspended license. And while legal analyst Steve Meister said what Scott is doing is legal, he said it was not justifiable.

“Lawful, but awful,” Meister said. “For a little, basically harmless, victimless misdemeanor, why do you have to go trashing somebody online about it, because that’s all that’s going to happen to them.”

Darin Weeks, the editor of a competing online publication, WeHo Daily, called the arrest posts public shaming.

“As soon as your name is on the internet, it’s there forever basically,” Weeks said. “And a potential employer might see it, or somebody you might be interested in dating might google your name and see it. But you’ve immediately been sentenced without being convicted of the crime.”

Scott stated that he was using an arrest reporting service made available through a membership with the California Newspaper Publishers Association, and he said he has no plans to stop running the list of arrests and booking at West Hollywood Jail.

Inmates at the Los Angeles Police Department Hollywood Community Jail & Police Station (the “Hollywood Jail” or the “Jail”) can be visited, Monday – Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  Be aware that the Jail’s visiting hours and roster of inmates who are eligible for visits vary and are subject to change without notice. Therefore, you should always call the Jail at 213-485-5125 or 213-972-2971 when planning a visit. Arrestees who are detained at the Hollywood Jail generally reside from the following communities: Argyle, Cahuenga Pass, East Hollywood, Fairfax, Hobart, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood/La Brea, Little Armenia, Los Feliz, Melrose District, Mount Olympus, Sierra Vista, Spaulding Square, Sunset Strip, Thai Town, Vine and Willoughby.

In most cases, an inmate may receive one 15-minute visit per day every day of the week. An inmate may have up to one (1) visitor per permitted visit. Visitors under the age of 18 (minors) must be accompanied by an adult and have an ID. Attorneys, clergymen and bail bondsmen may visit at any time for as long as they like.

How do you get booking information? Anyone can obtain information about persons who have been arrested and taken to the Hollywood Jail by calling 213-473-6100 at twenty-four hours per day. If you want to get information about any inmate online, visit The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Inmate Information Center or call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s 24-hour “Booking Information” line at 213-473-6080.  

It is important to know that you will need to know the full name and date of birth of the person being held in jail or his booking number to obtain any information. For specific information regarding the arrestee’s case, including upcoming court dates, it is recommended that you visit the Los Angeles County Superior Court website.

Even though word that a protest called for Monday, June 1, at the Van Nuys Civic Center had been canceled, hundreds converged in a growing demonstration against police violence and racism. The demonstrations provided cover for dozens of looters who hit area businesses, breaking in, taking what they could carry and running. Many of them were arrested and booked at Van Nuys Jail.

 Later in the evening, Police declared the event an unlawful assembly, and hundreds of LAPD and CHP officers — on foot, on motorcycles and in patrol cars — could be seen converging on the area in video from ABC7’s helicopter. At least 50 law-enforcement SUVs were parked in the middle of Van Nuys Boulevard, blocking the street to traffic at Oxnard Street.

Due to the countywide curfew, most of the protesters had left by 5 pm and about a hundred remained, in contrast to the several hundred in the area during the afternoon.

As the looting continued into the evening, by 8:30 p.m. some 60 people were arrested and taken to Van Nuys Jail for looting near Sherman Way and Van Nuys Blvd., LAPD Commander Jeff Bert said.

It was late in the afternoon when looters descended on the commercial strip near the Valley’s historic core.

Many businesses were looted. The Boost Mobile store on Van Nuys Boulevard was among the businesses ransacked and a window was broken at the Valley Herbal Center marijuana shop on nearby Victory Boulevard.

It was later discovered that looters pried open the security gate, broke the window and cleared out the Super Discount Pharmacy on the 14600 block of Victory Boulevard Many similar businesses had also been targeted by thieves in search of codeine and other prescription narcotics, Bert said.

Approximately 30 officers were guarding the Van Nuys City Hall building, with demonstrators being held at the bottom of the steps to the historic structure, which was built in 1932.

Edward Buck, a white former Democratic donor who was arrested and held in the West Hollywood Police Station, has been charged with four additional felonies for his alleged role in the overdosing deaths of a Black, 26-year-old sex worker named Gemmel Moore and at least one other man.

Buck was arrested and taken to West Hollywood Jail in September 2019 for allegedly providing methamphetamine injections to Moore, who overdosed on the drug and died in Buck’s apartment on July 27, 2017. Buck was also suspected of involvement in the similar death of 55-year-old Black man Timothy Dean on January 7, 2019.

The four newly charged felonies against Buck include two for encouraging Moore and another man to travel interstate to engage in sex work—something that is illegal in California—one charge of knowingly and intentionally distributing methamphetamine and one charge of using his residence for the purpose of distributing narcotics.

In total, Buck now faces a total nine charges related to Moore and Dean’s deaths. A federal grand jury indicted Buck on five felony charges involving their deaths. The five charges in that indictment were three counts of distributing methamphetamine and two counts of distributing methamphetamine resulting in death.

In the October 2019 indictment, it was alleged that Buck used gay hook-up apps, social media, and a recruiter to find “vulnerable individuals who were destitute, homeless, and/or struggled with drug addiction. He would invite them to his apartment to consume drugs and perform sexual acts, a practice known as “party and play.”

Buck allegedly prepared syringes of meth—a stimulant that floods the body with physically pleasurable waves of dopamine while increasing heart rate and impairing the brain’s decision-making abilities—and injected victims with or without their consent, sometimes injecting more than they’d expected or injecting them while they lay unconscious.

After being held in West Hollywood jail, Buck is now being held in federal custody.

The Van Nuys Jail serves as a temporary holding facility for men and women who are arrested by the LAPD or California Highway Patrol in the San Fernando Valley. It is located within the Los Angeles Police Department’s Van Nuys Community Police Station.

People who are arrested are only held at this facility until they are released on their own recognizance, (known as an “O.R.” release), post bail or are taken to court for their arraignment

 Male defendants who are taken into custody, must remain in jail either because they cannot post bail or because they have been convicted of their offense. They will generally be transferred to a larger Los Angeles County jail such as the Los Angeles Twin Towers Jail, the Pitchess Detention Center, or the Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail. Generally, female defendants will be transferred to the Century Regional Detention Facility.

 Once an inmate has been booked into the Van Nuys Jail, his/her bail will be set according to the Los Angeles County Bail Schedule and based on the crime(s) for which the inmate was arrested.

“Bail” is the amount of money that is designed to assure the arresting agency and court that the defendant will make his/her court appearances after being released from jail.  A family member, friend, and anyone else can pay (or “post”) bail on an inmate’s behalf.

If someone chooses to post bail for an inmate, the Van Nuys Jail accepts four forms of bail: cash bail, cashier’s checks, money orders and bail bonds, many of which are discussed in detail in our article “How to Post Bail in California“.

To pay bail directly, do so at the Van Nuys Police Station (where the jail is located) 24 hours a day / 7 days a week.

Van Nuys Police Station is located at 6420 Sylmar Avenue Van Nuys, CA 91401 (818) 374-9645

Recently, more than 250 inmates facing misdemeanor and lower-level felonies have been released from jail. The presiding judge of Los Angeles County released them from jail to limit the spread of coronavirus by reducing the number of people behind bars.  

Presiding Judge Kevin C. Brazile said orders have been signed to release more than 250 people on their own recognizance in connection with the Judicial Council of California’s recent decision to set bail at zero for most misdemeanor and lower-level felony cases.

Top leaders in Los Angeles County, including District Attorney Jackie Lacey, Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo Garcia, Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender Erika Anzoategui and Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer vetted and agreed on lists of cases on which bail would be set at zero. Those inmates are being ordered to return to court on specific dates, according to the court, which noted that the stipulated requests will continue to be signed on an ongoing basis.

According to Brazile, justice partners in Los Angeles County are continuing to work with the court during this unprecedented public health crisis to protect public safety while achieving distance inside our courthouses and the jail system.

On March 17, 2020, the presiding judge announced that most court functions would remain on hold to allow the courts to comply with social distancing and to prevent the spread of the virus within our community. His order was subsequently extended through with courtrooms being closed for judicial business except for those handling time-sensitive, essential functions.

The order includes essential matters such as arraignments, preliminary hearings, bail review hearings, grand jury indictments and sentencing hearings in criminal cases, along with juvenile petitions, emergency protective orders, emergency writs challenging COVID-19 emergency measures and civil and family temporary restraining orders.

Brazile also instituted a 90-day grace period on all traffic and non-traffic infraction tickets.