A pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run crash near the University of Southern California campus Tuesday night, police said.

The 58-year-old victim was walking in a crosswalk at Portland and 23rd streets about 9 p.m. when he was hit, Los Angeles Police Department officials said.

There was no evidence at the scene to indicate that the driver attempted to stop, police said.

The man was hospitalized with head injuries after landing about 70 feet from the crosswalk. His personal belongings lay scattered in the street. He died at the hospital at around 11:30 p.m.

The car was described by police as a black, newer model four-door sedan.

"He needs to come back and turn himself in," said LAPD Officer Joseph Cha. "He should've just stopped."

The university advised students to stay away from the area Tuesday night due to "police activity."

Officers said a surveillance camera near the crosswalk may help identify the car's license plate.

Michael Larkin and Adrian Arambulo contributed to this report

Chicago's Jackie Robinson West Little League team may leave the Little League International and join another baseball league after a controversy surrounding alleged residency violations left the team stripped of its championship title this year.

The team’s attorney announced the move Wednesday, saying the 300 to 400 youth players and 90 to 100 parent volunteers will explore the possibility of joining the Cal Ripken- Babe Ruth League. The new league offers similar services as Little League International.

“JRW parents and coaches feel strongly that Little League International inappropriately treated JRW children and parent volunteers, especially when Little League intentionally decided to announce the proposed change regarding the championship title to their corporate partner, ESPN, before speaking with JRW parents, coaches and children,” the team said in a statement. “This insensitive act by Little League International is a critical factor affecting JRW’s decision to explore other opportunities.”

Earlier this year, Little League spokesman Brian McClintock announced the news of the vacated title, saying an investigation revealed that Coach Darold Butler and Illinois District 4 Administrator Michael Kelly knowingly violated rules by using a falsified boundary map for their 2014 tournament and used players who didn't qualify because they lived outside the team's actual boundaries.

The team’s attorney, Victor Henderson, said the players, parents and the team’s leaders were unaware of the league’s decision until they saw it in the media.

Craig James, a former New England Patriots running back, said Satan inspired his former team to urge the Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage. 

"If I were a current player in that locker room and my livelihood depended on me being quiet or losing it because of my belief system, I worry, I wonder. So, that's Satan working on us," James said during an interview on Friday on Family Research Council President Tony Perkins' radio show.

The Patriots are among hundreds of U.S. businesses, including San Francisco Giants and Tampa Bay Rays, that submitted a brief with the high court in support of allowing same-sex marriage nationwide. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on the case April 28 with a decision expected this summer.

James said in the interview Patriots and other teams risk sparking an "implosion" in the locker room if they continue to voice support for gay rights.

"A locker room is a cohesive deal," James, who now works for the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group and lobbying organization, told Perkins. "A locker room is a place where everybody has different belief systems but you just get along. In my opinion, I look forward to seeing now, if management tells you and the coaching staff tells you that you better not say anything about the other side, you talk about implosion in the locker room."

Massachusetts was the first U.S. state to legalize gay marriage.

James has expressed his anti-gay viewpoint in the past. During his failed bid for U.S. Senate in 2012, he said homosexuality is a choice and that he “will never ride in a gay parade.”

He was fired as an analyst by Fox Sports in 2013 for the anti-gay comments he made during the campaign.

Click here to listen to James' interview from Right Wing Watch.

A man with a samurai-style sword was shot dead after he walked toward officers in Ontario Tuesday night.

He was gunned down following a police pursuit that ended at Fern Avenue and Phillips Street, the Ontario Police Department said.

Officers responded to a call from the man in the area of Mission Boulevard and Mountain Avenue just after 10 p.m. The caller said he had a gun and that he was suicidal.

Officers located a lone subject inside a car with the lights out. A five-minute pursuit followed before the man pulled over, got out of the vehicle and brandished a large samurai-style sword, police said.

Despite being told to put down the weapon, he walked toward the officers. When a non-lethal rubber round failed to stop him, he was shot again.

He was then taken to a hospital, where he later died.

No officers were injured.

Scientists are virtually certain that California will be rocked by a strong earthquake in the next 30 years. Now they say the risk of a mega-quake is more likely than previously thought.

The chance of a magnitude-8 quake striking the state in the next three decades jumped to 7 percent from 4.7 percent, mainly because scientists took into account the possibility that several faults can shake at once, releasing seismic energy that results in greater destruction.

While the risk of a mega-quake is higher than past estimates, it's more likely - greater than 99 percent chance - that California will be rattled by a magnitude-6.7 jolt similar in size to the 1994 Northridge disaster. The chance of a Northridge-size quake was slightly higher in Northern California than Southern California - 95 percent versus 93 percent, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Geological Survey.

"California is earthquake country, and residents should live every day like it could be the day of a big one," USGS geophysicist and lead author Ned Field said.

The latest seismic calculations largely mirror previous findings issued by the USGS in 2008. Back then, scientists also determined that California faced an almost certain risk of experiencing a Northridge-size quake.

The new report included newly discovered fault zones and the possibility that a quake can jump from fault to fault. Because of this knowledge, the odds of a catastrophic quake - magnitude 8 or larger - in the next 30 years increased.

There is a 93 percent chance of a magnitude 7 or larger occurring over the same period and a 48 percent chance of a magnitude 7.5 - similar to previous estimates.

Thousands of quakes every year hit California, sandwiched between two of Earth's major tectonic plates, the Pacific and North American plates. Most are too small to be felt.

Of the more than 300 faults that crisscross the state, the southern segment of the San Andreas Fault - which runs from central California to the Salton Sea near the U.S.-Mexico border - remains the greatest threat because it hasn't ruptured in more than three centuries.

The report found there is a 19 percent chance in the next 30 years that a Northridge-size quake will unzip the southern section compared to a 6.4 percent chance for the northern section, partly because it last broke in 1906.

The southern San Andreas is "ready to have an earthquake because it's really locked and loaded," Field said.

The report is a forecast, but it is not a prediction. Experts still cannot predict exactly where or when a quake will hit anywhere in the world.

In recent years, the USGS and several universities have been testing an early warning system designed to detect the first waves of a jolt and send out an alert before the slower-moving damaging waves. Proponents have said a few seconds of notice can allow trains to slow down, utilities to shut off gas lines and people to duck for cover. The public alert system - still in pilot phrase - needs more funding before it can be rolled out statewide.

Mobile App users click here to view map

Police searched and found nothing after a driver reported hitting something in North Haven, Connecticut, late Tuesday night, but hours later, a neighbor found a body lying on the side of the road.

Officers responded to the area of Clintonville Road near Pool Road at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday after the driver reported that he'd struck something, according to police. They didn't find anything, and police let the driver go around midnight.

Hours later, after the sun rose, a resident called police with a chilling tip, reporting what appeared to be a body near a driveway where the reported crash occurred – Clintonville Road near Pool Road, police said. 

Officers again drove to the scene, and this time, found the body of a 50-year-old North Haven resident, dressed all in black clothing. The person had suffered traumatic injuries, according to police, who have not released the name of the victim or the driver.  

The South Central Regional Traffic Unit is investigating the crash and anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to call the department at 203-239-5321.

For most people, Wednesday morning starts off with a nice breakfast, maybe a run at the park, or just a trip straight to work.

But for some in the Bay Area, there’s a fourth go-to now: clubbing.

“I started coming to this over the summer, probably five to six times,” said Michael Garcia, who lives in San Francisco. “When I did first hear about it, it was an instant, ‘Well, yeah, of course, I’m going to do that,' and as soon as I got in here I was like, ‘Well, of course, I’m going to do this every time it happens because it’s the most fun ever!’”

Garcia is talking about a new, growing trend called “conscious clubbing” – parties that happen once a month in the morning before people head to work. The parties are sober, featuring smoothies instead of shots of liquor, yoga and even free massages.

“These people put together such a tight, fun event that if you need alcohol or drugs, then you’re not doing the party right,” added Garcia.

McKenzie Brill founded the San Francisco chapter of Morning Gloryville, a group that hosts these sober morning parties all around the world, starting in London in 2013.

“San Francisco’s a city that celebrates diversity, and celebrates art and artistic expression,” Brill said. “That hits on all key points of this event. I knew there’d be an appetite for something like this, and San Francisco would eat it up.”

It’s $20 to get through the door for the four-hour party that lasts until 10:30 am. The idea is to rejuvenate before going into work.

“It’s nice to wake up in the morning and come to a sober dance party, instead of one that stays up all night long,” Juliana Cochnar said.

Kyra Joseph drove all the way from Santa Cruz to join the party.

“Everyone is so happy to be here. You don’t have to be on anything, some fresh juice and you’re good to go,” Joseph said. “Friends of friends are also coming from Santa Cruz just for the party. A couple of them actually drove back to Santa Cruz to go to work after.”

Sober clubbing isn’t new. Rob Novotny of San Francisco said he’s gone to one party in Sausalito for the greater part of the last decade. There’s one big difference: those are not on the weekdays.

“It sells out with 150 people, a little bigger than this,” said Novotny.

Morning Gloryville San Francisco has hosted the most recent parties at Inner Mission, a venue mostly used to host arts events. Brill said there can only be one or two more at the same place because the building has been sold, on the verge of condo development.

“We really hope to see places like this stay alive and continue to spread,” added Brill. “They’re homes to artists who otherwise done have sufficient space.”

Garcia agreed there needs to be more attention paid to the changing city. That’s why he says he’s here to do more than just dance.

“So I’m one of the tech nerds gentrifying the city, but I like to work really hard on not only coming to events like this, but producing weird art expos so I can push against the gentrification I do during the week.”

Once Garcia was ready to head out the door, he said he just has one goal for the rest of the day.

“I’m going to go take shower sit at my desk and pretend I'm a normal person!”

It’s that time of year again for tens of thousands of runners to flood the streets of Los Angeles and raise money for dozens of charities.

The 30th edition of the ASICS LA Marathon will commence Sunday, March 15 at 6:55 a.m. starting at Dodgers Stadium and ending near the beautiful Santa Monica Pier. The 26.2 mile race attracts more than 26,000 runners from all over the nation and more than 55 countries around the world, making it one of the five largest marathons in the US and one of the 10 largest worldwide.

Street Closures

View Larger Map

If you’re a seasoned Angeleno you know just how difficult it can be to get around on race day. Using the interactive map provided by Commuterama.com, officials listed street closures and their affected times.

From the marathon's website:

Major East/West Accessibility Routes:

• I-10 -- all exits
• Olympic Blvd -- between the City of Santa Monica and Downtown LA
• Wilshire Blvd -- beween the City of Santa Monica and Santa Monica Blvd
• Beverly Blvd -- between Fairfaix Ave and Silver Lake Blvd
• Santa Monica Blvd -- between Fairfax Ave and Myra Ave
• Sunset Blvd -- between Pacific Palisades and Doheny Dr

Major North/South Accessibility Routes:

• Bundy Dr -- between Olympic Blvd and Wilshire Blvd
• I-405 -- all exits (except I-405S at Santa Monica Blvd)
• Fairfax Ave -- between Olympic Blvd and Santa Monica Blvd
• US-101 -- check ramp closures
• I-110 -- check ramp closures

Course Crossing Points via Overpass/Underpass

• Use I-110 to cross under course at Sunset Blvd
• Use US-101 to cross under course at Main St
• Use I-110 to cross over course at Temple St
• Use US-101 to cross under course at Edgeware Rd
• Use Silver Lake Blvd to cross under course at Sunset Blvd
• Use Myra Ave to cross under course at Sunset Blvd
• Use US-101 to cross under course at Hollywood Blvd
• Use I-405 to cross over course at Ohio Ave
• Use Wilshire Blvd to cross over course at Veterans Administration

Street closures will begin at 4 a.m. on Sunday, with most roads expected to reopen by 5 p.m. Freeway ramp closures in the Santa Monica area will be affected longer by the race, closing at 12 a.m. and reopening at 9 p.m. A full list of highways affected is available online.

Metro rail services will run as normal. Free non-stop bus shuttles will be available for spectators between the Santa Monica and Culver City Expo Line stations beginning at 5a.m.

Metro buses that normally pass through the marathon’s course will take alternative routes. A full list of services that will be interrupted is also available online.

Weather Warning

Record heat temperatures are expected over the weekend, prompting officials to change the usual 7:25 a.m. start time of the race to 30 minutes earlier.

“The weather conditions pose a high level of risk for marathoners and all participants should be advised to take precaution,” officials said in a weather warning posted on the race’s website.

A seven-day forecast on Wednesday showed the mercury rising reaching into the high 80s on the day of the race.

Water, cooling buses and misting stations will be available for runners along the course.

Dozens of crates of live chickens fell from the back of a truck and spilled onto a Staten Island street Wednesday morning. 

A driver was transporting the chickens from New Jersey to Brooklyn when nearly 30 crates of the chickens fell from the truck near Steuben Street and Hylan Boulevard at about 7:15 a.m., according to police. 

The driver apparently wasn't aware of the spill because he continued on, police said. Other drivers came across the crates, with some chickens having escaped and at least one injured on the sidewalk, and called police, the Staten Island Advance reported. 

Responding police officers directed traffic around the area as they helped secure the chickens back into the crates and then bring them back to the 122nd Precinct station.

Police said they were able to locate the company driver, who returned to pick up the chickens a few hours later. 

The family of a woman killed in what authorities called a case of distracted driving entered an Orange County courtroom Wednesday expecting to hear the accused driver enter a guilty plea nearly four years after the fatal collision.

Instead, Jorene Nicolas, of San Diego, asked for a new attorney after turning down a plea deal that would have resulted in one year in prison. Wednesday's surprise twist means another trial for the accused and the family of 23-year-old Deanna Mauer.

The first trial ended about a year ago with a deadlocked jury.

"Definitely, this is a criminal justice system because the only thing that gets any justice is the criminal," said Dawn Mauer, who wears a necklace with her daughter's picture and a bracelet with her name.

Deanna Mauer's father, Howard, who has a tattoo of his daughter on his arm, wonders when the case will end.

"A lot of people are taking their time out of their day to come in and support our daughter, support us," he said, choking up. "Not good ... not good."

Nicolas, then 28, was traveling at least 80 mph when she crashed her Toyota Prius into the back of Mauer's Hyundai sedan in April 2011 on the 405 Freeway, according to crash investigators. Traffic was at a near-standstill, but Nicolas was distracted by her cellphone and failed to notice, prosecutors said.

She did not brake or slow before slamming into Mauer's vehicle, which was pushed into another vehicle, according to the district attorney's office. Nicolas then hit the freeway's center divider before coming to a stop, facing south in the northbound lanes.

Mauer, a star former softball player at Fountain Valley High School and coach at San Juan Hills High School, died at a hospital. She was wearing a seat belt.

Her father and mother have attended dozens of court hearings.

"I have never owned a cellphone, I will never own a cellphone for the rest of my life," said Howard Mauer after Wednesday's court proceeding.

Nicolas was hospitalized for minor cuts.

In April 2014, a jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of a conviction, leading to the retrial. Prosecutors said during the first trial that there was evidence of cellphone use by Nicolas, but that it was not clear whether it involved talking, texting or both.

"I thought for sure she'd enter a plea and that it was right for her to do so so she could move on with her life and so could the victim's family," said one of the former jurors, Sharon Aguilera, outside court.

In an interview last year with The Orange County Register after the mistrial, Nicolas characterized the crash as a "tragic accident" and said that Mauer swerved in front of her on the freeway.

"She veered into my lane, so I avoided her and I hit the center divider," Nicolas told the Register. "That's when my air bags deployed."

Police released a composite sketch on Wednesday of a man who tried to kidnap and rape two women in the past week at Cal State San Bernardino.

The sketch (pictured, right) is of a man between 19 and 21 years old, between 5 foot 7 and 5 foot 8. He is described as Hispanic with black, curly hair. He's wanted in connection with two incidents, the first on March 4 around 7:30 p.m. behind a stairwell at the university library, the second on Sunday afternoon, police said. 

The news comes as police continue to search for a woman who vanished near the college on Monday.

Sahray Barber, 22, an art student, went missing early Monday morning after leaving her apartment complex in the 1500 block of Northpark Boulevard in San Bernardino, officials with the San Bernardino Police Department said.

Police have made no connection to the assaults and the woman's disappearance, but they're warning all students to pay close attention to their surroundings.

Her parents say they are desperate to see their 22-year-old daughter again.

"Sahray, we love you," said Barber's father, Stephen Barber. We can’t wait to have you back in our arms."

Anyone with information was asked to call San Bernardino police at 909-384-5623.

One of America's most technologically advanced and luxurious movie theaters is slated to open in Los Angeles' Playa Vista neighborhood in May.

The Cinemark theatre, which allows moviegoers to recline on massive loungers while watching a 72-foot-wide wall screen, is located in the heart of high-tech Silicon Beach.

"We knew when we put in a new theater here it had to be state of the art when it came to technology," Cinemark spokesman James Meredith said.

The theater will offer real 3-D capability, all digital technology, VIP seating, a cocktail lounge and several auditoriums, one of which has more than 400 seats. Wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor movie screens will be available in all auditoriums, helping create a state-of-the-art viewing environment.

"It's the most luxurious and technologically advanced theater in Los Angeles," Meredith said.

"It is by far the best environment to watch a big blockbuster movie."

The Playa Vista theater is part of Cinemark's high-end brand that launched during the last two years.

The theater's opening will launch Runway, a new entertainment, dining and shopping destination in Playa Vista, according to a statement.
 

"We didn't have practice," Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott said after the team let out of its Wednesday session. "We had too many guys banged up. Jeremy (Lin) couldn't practice today. He had a thigh contusion. Wesley (Johnson) got kicked in the calf last night, so he couldn't really go today."

Instead, the Lakers spent the day getting up shots after the team took its annual team photo. This year, everyone showed up, save for Steve Nash, who did not appear in a single regular season game.

Following a victory against the Detroit Pistons, a day to get shots up and heal did not sound like an altogether terrible idea. Snapping a five-game losing streak brought smiles to faces and a lighthearted atmosphere in the locker room.

"Yea, probably," Lin answered when asked if he expected to play on Thursday night against the New York Knicks. He quickly added, "Unless something crazy happens overnight."

New signing Jabari Brown also expects to earn time against New York. Brown is on a 10-day contract and should provide an added scoring punch off the bench with Nick Young still sitting out with a sore left knee. Although Scott would prefer to get Brown a practice session before throwing him onto the court, the Lakers' coach said the player had been schooled on schemes on Tuesday, so he will be afforded a chance to shine on Thursday.

"I just told him, 'Just stay in the gym. Keep getting work in because you never know when your name is called, and you got to be ready to produce when you're called on,'" standout Lakers' rookie Jordan Clarkson shared the advice he gave Brown, his former college roommate.

For Clarkson, the light Wednesday session led in perfectly to his night meeting with Steve Nash, or "Professor Steve," as the rookie called him on Tuesday night. Around the time Kobe Bryant's torn rotator cuff was being discovered, Clarkson and Nash were arranging their first private sessions of the season.

Nash reached out to Clarkson, but Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak had planted the seeds and watered the flowers over monthly breakfast meetings. To be fair, the rookie spent time working out with Nash before the season, so the idea of the pair of point guards working together did not exactly turn up mid-season. In a perfect world, Clarkson would probably have been watching Nash operate for the first half of the season before stepping onto the court. Everything considered, no one is complaining about Clarkson's development these days.

"I worked out with Steve (Nash) for a week, week and a half, here at the facility," Clarkson said the point guard duo did late off-season work prior to the start of training camp. 

The regular seasons sessions, however, had been more film oriented with one memorably intense physical workout over the All-Star break.

Between the rookie point guard getting in-game advice from Kobe Bryant on the bench and off-day individual tips from Nash, Clarkson could not help but marvel at his unique opportunities in only his first year in the NBA: "It's just a blessing. You couldn't write a book better than the one I got right now. I'm happy to be here with this organization."

Asked how that book would end, the 22-year-old Clarkson laughed and said, "Who knows? We'll see."

When we think of synchronicity or coincidences, we very often alight upon concepts that seem, at first glance, to have little in common, or nothing at all.

That isn't the case with the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. There's some synchronicity afoot for the 2015 unfoldings of both major happenings, or at least interesting timing, and as is often the case with big things that converge, time-wise, there is a hashtag.

Of course, and if you're wondering if "-chella" is involved, as it usually is come the spring's bigger, non-Coachella events, you'd be correct.

The hashtag du jour -- or du month or du season, more accurately -- is #bookchella, and it is being deployed to draw attention to the fact that one of musicdom's largest gatherings, the one in the desert, and one of literarysphere's hugest convergences, the one in the city, are both heating up, in all the ways, over the third weekend in April. 

This is actually not the first year for #bookchella, which saw some trending action in 2014. It is, however, a reminder that if you want to see all of those author chats, meet your favorite writer, and pick up some tomes on special during the USC book-stravaganza, best go to Coachella over its first weekend, which is April 11 and 12.

It's nice when two major to-dos somehow entwine, whimsically, with cheek, at least on Twitter, because very often neither will note the existence of the other. But given that the Festival of Books and that lil' party at the Empire Polo Field in Indio are both tentpoles on the SoCal cultural calendar, there should be a unifying hashtag, by gum.

And if you want more -chellas in your life, hang tight. Events adding -chella to their names tend to flower like so many ocotillo flowers 'round the springtime, like Brokechella (which plays, for cheap, in downtown LA, on April 18). 

Three people were arrested and two Los Angeles school campuses raided Wednesday as federal agents broke up an alleged "pay to stay" scam that enabled visitors on student visas to continue to stay in the U.S. even though they were not attending classes.

Documents and other evidence were seized from Prodee University and Walter Jay M.D. Institute, two vocational schools in the Mid-Wilshire area, where federal inspectors said they found a conspicuous absence of students when they visited.

"They found three in one class, one in another," said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Los Angeles, about a 2011 visit to Prodee, which prompted the investigation. "That was a red flag something was up."

Prodee’s enrollment records allegedly listed some 1,500 foreign students, many from Korea and China, in what Arnold calls a classic "pay to stay" scam, in which a school charges tuition of between $1,500 and $1,800 to illegally extend a J-1 student visa, allowing the person to stay in the country with an ability to work.

"There is little or no teaching," Arnold said. "Virtually the whole student body pays to stay in the country."

"If you have 1,500 students, collect tuition twice a year, do the math … (that's) $6 million," Arnold said.

Hee Sun Shim, also known as Leonard Shim and Leo Shim, 51, of Beverly Hills, the owner and manager of the schools; Hyung Chan Moon, also known as Steve Moon, 39, of Los Angeles, who assisted with the operation and management of the schools; and Eun Young Choi, also known as Jamie Choi, 35, of Los Angeles, a former employee who assisted with the operation and management of the schools, were arrested Wednesday

Arnold said Prodee is a U.S.-based company. There is no indication that foreign governments were involved in the alleged deception and most enrollees were previously taking classes elsewhere.

"Our investigation found students already here under different visas," Arnold said. He said their investigation has not yet found any actual students of the school.

No one at either of Prodee’s two main locations answered calls seeking comment.

A third location in Alhambra, Likie Fashion and Technology College, remains open and was not part of Wednesday’s federal raid.

The three indicted executives are scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

The driver of a stolen vehicle was killed and his passenger critically injured after it crashed into the back of a fire engine during a police pursuit in South Los Angeles Wednesday.

Officers were at the scene of a shooting when the suspects fled and then crashed into the fire engine, sending the engine into a nearby lawn, Los Angeles Police Department officials said. The stolen van's driver died at the scene of the crash and a passenger suffered critical injuries.

Police have confirmed the driver and passenger in the van were both suspected of committing assault with a deadly weapon.

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries in the collision, and have since been released from hospital.

Firefighters were still working to extract two people from the car at 9:30 p.m. in the 100 block of 84th Street, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

A witness said the van went up in flames upon impact. Firefighters got out of the engine and started battling the flames.

The firefighters were at the location on a separate call for help, officials said.

NBC4's Ryan Bourgard and Toni Guinyard contributed to this report.

Los Angeles City officials are vowing to crack down on the party problem keeping neighbors up at night – a problem the I-Team first uncovered in a February investigation.

The I-Team’s report found realtors and owners renting out homes in residential neighborhoods for large parties that often lasted until dawn. Despite dozens of complaints to police, these "party houses" are often operating unchecked by the LAPD.

"It's like torture," said Steve Ginsberg, who lives in LA's Mount Olympus neighborhood, right behind two houses that are rented out for large, loud parties.

And it appears it’s still happening – though the parties are a lot smaller.

After the I-Team’s February report, producers from NBC’s TODAY Show "Rossen Reports" unit went undercover and caught a realtor on video attempting to rent out a house for large parties.

Councilman Tom LaBonge of Hollywood told residents in a statement his office was now working with the LAPD and a local neighborhood prosecutor to stop the illegal rental of homes for parties.

If you have a tip on this story — or anything else — the I-Team wants to hear from you. Give us a call at 818-520-TIPS or email nbc4iteam@nbcuni.com.

A man was shot dead by police when he allegedly tried to run them over in South Gate late Wednesday.

The incident happened at the 1000 Block of Capistrano Avenue at around 9 p.m., Los Angeles County Sheriff's Departments said.

The suspect died at the scene after being hit by gunfire from South Gate Police Department officers.

It happened after officers responded to a call of two men possibly trying to steal a car in the 10400 block of Pescadero Avenue, LASD said. Upon arrival they detained a man who matched the description of one of the subjects.  

As they questioned him, a second man allegedly drove an older model Toyota Camry toward the officers at high speed east bound in the 10500 block of Seminole Avenue. The officers responded by opening fire.

After the shooting, the subject reversed the car onto the front lawn of a home on the corner of Capistrano Avenue and Seminole Avenue.  The 25-year-old man was removed from the vehicle and died at the scene. 

It was later confirmed the vehicle he had been driving was an unreported stolen car, LASD said.

The second man did not appear to be involved and was released.

Four men were arrested after a police car chase in South Gate late Wednesday.

Officers responded after receiving a call from a motorist at around 11:20 p.m that someone in a vehicle had pulled a gun on them, South Gate Police Department said.

They soon spotted the suspects' vehicle, and a pursuit began when they refused to pull over for a traffic stop.

The chase, which lasted just under 10 minutes, ended when the vehicle stopped at the interchange of the 105 Westbound to the 710 North.

Four suspects were arrested for felony evading and brandishing a firearm, and at least one large caliber, semiautomatic handgun was recovered, police said.

Downey Police Department, California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department assisted.