An exit ramp from the 405 Freeway and part of busy Wilshire Boulevard in West Los Angeles were closed early Thursday afternoon due to a report of an unattended suitcase.

A driver reported seeing someone leave the item on the sidewalk near the Federal Building.The southbound 405 Freeway exit ramp to eastbound Wilshire Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard were closed for the investigation.

Traffic on the freeway backed up to the San Fernando Valley at midday.

Refresh this page for updates.

The Peninsula Humane Society is turning to science to try and help more animals find loving homes.

The group recently launched a new DNA testing campaign dubbed "Who's Your Daddy?" -- which has sparked new breed names.

"The results were all very different," said Richelle Pittella with the Peninsula Humane Society.

Pittella said 24 dogs have been tested, and based on the DNA results each is given a new and unique breed name.

One dog tested has been designated an Alaskan Chowzer -- part Chihuahua, part American Eskimo and miniature schnauzer, according to Pittella.

The intrigue factor of the campaign appears to be working after 18 of the 24 dogs have been adopted.

"An average wait four weeks to be adopted," Pittella said. "Many of those dogs were adopted within a few days."

The "Who's Your Daddy?" campaign is aimed at helping many overlooked dogs at the shelter get another opportunity to find a home.

The DNA test is a cheek swag, which cost about $50. The program will continue as long as funds allow, officials said.

Ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s unveiled what may be the fanciest ice cream truck ever seen. It’s so fancy, it’s not even a truck; it’s a luxury sedan. The company converted an $80,000 Tesla into a serving station on wheels.

“This definitely is not your classic, old-style ice cream truck,” chuckled Jostein Solheim, the CEO of Ben & Jerry’s.

The company will criss-cross the country this year handing out ice cream from the back of the emissions-free vehicle. It arrives in Los Angeles Thursday, April 16, and stays through May 7.

The back seat of the Tesla was removed to make room for a row of freezers that can store 1,500 samples, Solheim explained.

The vehicle, wrapped in colorful and eye-catching graphics, is the centerpiece of what Ben & Jerry’s is calling its “Save Our Swirled Climate Tour.” From the front of the vehicle, tour leaders will distribute info on cutting carbon emissions.

Solheim said the United States owes it to the rest of the world to make major moves on addressing climate change. “We’ve got to take action now,” he told New England Cable News. “This is the most urgent thing we’re working on.”

“It’s, by far, the fanciest delivery vehicle we’ve ever had,” said Jerry Greenfield, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s.

Greenfield told NECN he hopes more Americans will start thinking about fun and technologically innovative ways to protect the planet. “We want to use the power and voice of the company to take on bigger issues, and we feel lucky to be able to do it,” Greenfield said of the company’s social mission and advocacy work.

Ben & Jerry’s urged people across the country to follow the company on Twitter at its @BenJerrysTour account to find out where the Save Our Swirled Climate Tour is heading.

Fans can tweet Ben & Jerry’s and let them know about climate change advocacy work they’re doing in their communities, and there’s a chance the company may reward them with a visit from its Tesla to deliver ice cream samples.

From its initial Vermont unveiling, the one-of-a-kind Ben & Jerry’s Tesla headed to New York City for another celebration, then was scheduled to drive all the way to San Diego to kick off the Save Our Swirled Climate Tour, the company said.

An SUV driver struck an elderly woman crossing a street near USC, then passed the woman lying in the street after a U-turn, police said Wednesday.

The woman, 87, was sent to a hospital in critical condition after the Monday morning accident, in which a silver Infiniti SUV struck her as it turned north onto Figueroa Street from Adams Boulevard, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department.

The 8 a.m. collision took place in broad daylight, in front of several other cars and a city bus, according to security camera footage posted with the LAPD statement.

The SUV returned to the intersection after making a U-turn one block away, police said. It then drove through USC's campus at high speeds, running one red light.

The injured woman was still in the hospital Thursday morning, police said.

Police ask anyone with information to call 323-421-2500 ir 1877-LAPD-24-7.

UCLA slipped past Southern Methodist University 60-59 behind a stunning display of long-range shooting from sophonore guard Bryce Alford Thursday to open play in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

The 11th-seeded Bruins walked away with the one-point win after the 6th-seeded Mustangs missed a potential game-winner at the buzzer. Alford led the Bruins with 27 points and Norman Powell added 19.

The Bruins trailed 55-49 with 2:38 remaining before Alford's 3-pointer chipped into the Mustangs' lead. SMU pulled out to a 59-52 lead with 1:06 left to play before another Alford 3-point shot closed the gap.

Powell hit two freethrows for UCLA with 29 seconds left before another Alford 3-pointer -- actually, a goaltending called whistled against the Mustangs -- gave the Bruins a lead they did not relinquish. Alford's forced attempted appeared to be heading off the mark, but officials determined that SMU's Yanick Moreira touched the ball too soon and awarded UCLA the basket.

Alford hit 9 of his 11 attempts from 3-point range.

The Mustangs (27-7) had two shots to win in the final seconds, but Nic Moore missed a 3-pointer and then a 2-point attempt that sent the Bruins (21-13) into a wild celebration.

UCLA will play the University of Alabama-Birmingham Saturday in the Round of 32. 

Many New Yorkers are likely to cross paths with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people on any given day. But most would be hard pressed to top the 12 million or so that Liz Branch has met at work in the last half-century.

Branch, of Bergen, New Jersey, recently celebrated her golden anniversary as a toll collector for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. It's a milestone few others working on the crossings between the Garden and Empire states have hit.

“I never dreamed I’d make it 50 years but I made it,' she said with a smile.

Branch, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, collects tolls overnight at the Holland Tunnel, and had been taking change from commuters since March 1965, when she was one of a handful of women to land the job.

Since then, she's worked through lane changes, plaza redesigns, the start of E-Z Pass and even the blizzard of 1978, which shut down the region.

"A lot has changed since then," she said. "An awful lot."

But there’s one constant in Branch's career --  the never-ending stream of drivers. The Port Authority says she has taken tolls from 12 million drivers -- more than half the population of the entire tri-state area -- in her 50 years. And in that time she’s learned a trick for bringing the rudest drivers down a peg.

"You hold it just enough to keep it from blowing away and when they snatch it they pretty much hit themselves," she said.

Still, she says she has good interactions with most drivers. Her sunny disposition has even gotten her some loyal followers. The Holland Tunnel's general manager, Tony Carvagno, says that some drivers will search for Branch’s toll lanes.

"She gets to know her customers,” he said. “They get to know her. They purposely look for her in the lane at night and drive through her lane."

Branch doesn't plan to hang up her toll collector's jacket any time soon. She said as long as she can make a difference in drivers' days, she’ll be ready to welcome millions more to the Big Apple.

A 3-year-old Hollywood, Florida, boy missing since Thursday morning, was founded dead in his father's Hollywood home, police said.

Police made the heartbreaking announcement in a press conference Friday morning. Chief Frank Fernandez said the body of Ahizya Osceola was discovered in an "obscure location" inside his father's home located at 5420 Johnson Street in Hollywood.

A criminal investigation is now underway, police said.

Ahizya's mother, Karen Cypress, said the boy had been with his father and stepmother Thursday morning. The child was reported missing from that Johnson Street home around 10 a.m.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Cypress pleaded for help from the public to bring her son back.

"Please call the police department so I can have my baby back," Cypress said. "I just want him back, he's my heart, he's my life. I just want him home."

Cypress described her son as very friendly and adventurous.

"He'll talk to anybody, I just don't want him harmed," she said. "He's very adventurous, so I'm just hoping he's going to magically appear somewhere."

In an announcement released just before 6 a.m. Friday, police said that "due to developments in the case" the department was no longer seeking the public's assistance in searching for the missing boy.

Police had said Ahizya was last seen in the area of 54th Avenue and Johnson Street. The boy was described as three-and-a-half feet tall and weighing 40 pounds and was last seen wearing a Florida State University sweatshirt and burgundy sweatpants.

This is a developing story. Stay with NBC 6 South Florida for updates.

The explosive growth in downtown Los Angeles continued Thursday with groundbreakings on two new high-rise developments.

Oceanwide Plaza will be near the Staples Center and will have two high-rise condominiums, a five-star hotel, restaurants and shops. Another groundbreaking celebration was held just steps away for TEN 50, a 25-story high-rise condominium at the corner of 11th Street and Grand Avenue.

"Look at the cranes around downtown," said Mayor Eric Garcetti. "Listen to the buzzsaws that are everywhere. Look at the people who are moving in."

Not everyone is happy about the idea of new neighbors. Residents are worried about the impact developments will have on parking, sidewalks and affordability.

"There's no street parking," said Michael Berenzweig, who recently moved his long-running business out of the area because of parking issues. "There's no lots to park in and if there are lots, they're exorbitantly expensive."

California's housing costs are 2 ½ times the national average and contribute to poverty in the state, according to a recent state report. The study also found that high housing costs mean fewer residents can afford to own homes. Many are forced to endure long commutes from cheaper areas.

But city leaders maintain the growth will be balanced and fair.

"When a developer comes by and wants to build a new project, we ask them to work with us to improve the public infrastructure around that project," Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar said.

Thousands of luxury housing units may be coming but so is more affordable housing, leaders claimed.

"We want this to be a downtown for everyone," Huizar said. "We don't only want to build luxury apartments."

Huizar said he's brainstorming ideas to deal with the sidewalk issue, like having developers make more space for walking in construction sites or reassigning a car lane to pedestrians.

The drought that's plaguing the Golden State is into its fourth year. That's long enough for you to have soaked up plenty of info about the reservoir-emptying dry spell.

You probably think you know it all about the drought -- maybe you did well on our first drought quiz. Well, let's hope your knowledge is deeper than the state's water supply...

CLICK HERE: Complete coverage of California's drought

A White Settlement, North Texas, mother is upset her 5-year-old son was put on a school bus at North Elementary School, a White Settlement ISD school in Fort Worth, when he was supposed to remain at the school for an independent after-school daycare program Wednesday.

Ashley Holder told NBC 5 her son, Gabriel Muntu, told a substitute teacher he was not supposed to ride the bus, but he was put on the bus anyway. The driver dropped him off nearly a mile from their apartment, and Gabriel walked home alone.

“He had told his substitute teacher that he was not a bus rider, and they still put him on the bus,” Holder said.

Her son crisscrossed Saddle Road before making his way across Clifford Street, a busy four-lane road, which his mom says her son told her he crossed more than once.

“He dodged cars to try to get home and I asked him, I was like, 'Were there cars, did you see them?' And he was like, 'Oh, they stopped for me,'” Holder said. “If they wouldn’t have stopped, that could have been my son’s life and that’s the only reason why I’m saying something.”

Holder said she was shocked when she found out what happened.

“I felt sick and I cried because that’s my baby, you know. He could have been hit by a car. He could have been kidnapped. Anything could have happened,” Holder said.

White Settlement ISD officials say there was a lapse in procedure at the school, and a substitute teacher was involved. The school has apologized to the family and is now reviewing current procedures to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“I asked him to show me where they dropped him off, thinking it was just around the neighborhood. No, they dropped him off over a mile away,” Holder said. “He’s supposed to have surgery on his feet and he walked over a mile with bad feet.”

A pint-sized boy who was born with a tiny hand and a few fingers now has a life-changing thing he calls "very cool": a "super-hand" made with a 3-D printer.

"It's very cool and it's very special," 5-year-old Jonny Maldonado said. "I flex it, and I can use it."

Jonny's indomitable spirit had helped him adjust, but the 3-D printing technology and the new hand have changed his life.

"I still can't wrap my mind what a 3-D printer is and how this comes out of it," Jonny's mother Felicia Maldonado said. "It was a blessing, and we are ecstatic."

Children born with deformities have had to rely on heavy, limited prosthesis to do the things other kids do -- until now. The 3-D printing technology is changing all of that.

"An old prosthetic weighed about 15 pounds, which is about Jonny's whole weight, and many of them look like claws," Jonny's orthopedic surgeon Dr. Nina Lightdale-Miric said.

It takes the 3-D printer 24 hours to make a whole hand. A finger takes just half an hour.

"You take a 3-D image, send it through a software called slicer software," said Alison Glazer, a USC bioengineering student who helps design the hands. "(It) literally slices it up into those layers. You send that into the printer and it melts the plastic layer by layer."

Jonny has different hands for playing baseball, riding a bike and doing homework. Each hand costs about $100.

"His story is just beginning," Lightdale-Miric said. "What he will do with this super-hand or what he will do with the 3-D technology in the future is limitless."

The names of the sergeant and two officers who fired their weapons in the March 1 Skid Row shooting that killed a homeless man were released on Thursday.

Sgt. Chand Syed, an eight-year veteran of the force; Officer Francisco Martinez, a 12-year veteran; and Officer Daniel Torres, who has six years on the force, fired their weapons, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed.

Before this incident, none of them had ever fired their weapons on duty.

A rookie officer, who did not fire his weapon, will not be named.

Police said the suspect, Carly Keunang, 43, tried to grab that officer’s holstered pistol.

Keunang’s identity has been unknown since it emerged that he came to the United States more than 15 years ago using the stolen identity of a French citizen.

He was known on Skid Row as "Africa."

Keunang was fatally shot by LAPD officers on Skid Row, in an incident caught on cellphone video that prompted community outrage.

Keunang was a Cameroon national, according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He served 15 years in federal prison under his assumed name for bank robbery before being paroled in April 2013.

He was initially to be deported, but France rejected travel papers after he was found to have false documentation. Cameroon reportedly ignored requests for travel papers to that country.

A father pushing his 3-month-old baby in a stroller was arrested for allegedly selling heroin to another man near a Southern California middle school, authorities said.

Gabriel Flores was arrested near De Anza Middle School in Ventura on Friday morning. He was booked into jail on charges including sales of heroin with an enhancement of dealing near a school, possession of heroin for sale, and child endangerment.

The case broke after authorities said they began noticing the use and sale of heroin and Xanax in Ventura among teens and young adults since the latter part of 2014. Detectives said there were several probable heroin overdose deaths in the city as well.

An investigation into Flores was launched when detectives learned he was allegedly selling heroin within 50 feet of De Anza Middle School on multiple occasions, Ventura County Sheriff's officials said in a news release.

The drug sales did not occur on the school property, but the suspect allegedly sold the drugs while school was in session. None of the buyers had any connection to the school, officials said.

Detectives conducting surveillance on Flores saw him leave his apartment pushing a stroller with his 3-month-old baby seated inside. Detectives then saw Flores allegedly deal heroin with another man, who was arrested on a less-serious misdemeanor heroin possession charge.

Flores' 3-month-old baby was released to Ventura County Child Protective Services.

A search warrant turned up heroin packaged for sale, used syringes, and a syringe loaded with suspected heroin.

The items were found in a location easily accessible by two other children, ages 5 and 6, also living at the apartment. The children were also released to Ventura County Child Protective Services.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost their 50th game of the season on Thursday night, as the Utah Jazz beat the Lakers 80-73 at Staples Center.

In one of the uglier games in recent memory, bustling and bruising rookie Tarik Black provided a scoring and rebounding presence in what could possibly be described as his best game to date. Facing the extra length of Rudy Gobert, Black did not back down from one of the most overpowering defensive figures in the NBA. Instead, the Lakers' rookie took on the challenge and threw down a couple monster slam dunks.

Black finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds to claim the third double-double of his career. He fell one point and one rebound shy of his career-highs in both categories. Going against Gobert, Black's performance stood out as special.

When NBCLA.com caught up with the rookie center and asked him if his strength helped him mentally cope with Gobert's size, the 23-year-old shared an interaction with player development coach Larry Lewis earlier in the day.

"[Lewis] told me that I don't understand how strong I really am, and I don't think I really do either," Black said. "I know I move guys, but I don't really feel like the strongest guy out there. Things happen for me, and I guess looking at it, it's kind of like, 'this guy is really strong.' But when I'm out there on the floor, it's not really like 'I'm the hulk.'"

Black tried to clarify his point, "That extra strength helps, but on another note, I don't really understand how strong I really am."

When asked about how Black compensated for the extra height he gave up to Gobert on the night, Lakers coach Byron Scott pointed directly to Black's physical characteristics.

"I think brute strength has something to do with it," Scott responded.

Scott praised his rookie's defense, energy and athleticism. The coach pointed to Black's post-up game and his jump shot as areas to develop, and the rookie agreed with his coach's assessment.

"I kind of look at him in the same mold as Kenneth Faried--a guy that's all over the place, plays super hard," Scott said of Black. "His real true skill is how hard he plays."

Notes: Jeremy Lin played through back spasms, and his status for Sunday's game remains in doubt. Scott said Lin would likely only receive treatment on Friday in lieu of practice. The Lakers' coach also said rookie Jabari Brown would likely be signed to a second 10-day contract. Rookie Jordan Clarkson tabbed eight points and eight assists, the latter of which was a personal best.

A brazen serial burglar broke into a building opposite a police department headquarters in Orange County twice in the space of four days.

The man is suspected of raiding more than 30 businesses across Orange County, and has been active in at least six cities in the area since the break-in  streak began back in early February, an Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman said. 

The bold burglar even returned to raid a building across from Placentia Police Department HQ just days after an initial break-in. 

He has mainly been targeting business complexes where he sometimes goes from suite to suite grabbing anything he can carry, including cash and electronics. He has even taken stamps and even more unusual items.

"What really upsets me is that they stole my scotch - my good scotch whisky," said Ron Beelers, whose  business in Yorba Linda was raided, "I don't really feel that we have that much in here to steal."

The thief burrowed through a wall, causing lots of damage despite getting away with just a couple of spare computer and some personal items.

The thief is described as being between 35 and 55-years-old, about  5-foot-10-inhcest tall and around 190 pounds. He also has gray or light-blonde hair that is thinning.

Officials suspect he leaves the area in a dark-colored PT Cruiser, with a white or convertible top, and possible paint weathering or decals on the hood. He has been active in Yorba Linda, Lake Forest, Tustin, Irvine, Brea and Placentia

Anyone with information can submit anonymous tips to Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS or online at occrimesstoppers.org.

Vikki Vargas also contributed to this report

Graco has agreed to pay a $3 million fine for delayed reporting of consumer complaints about difficulty opening car seat buckles.

As part of the agreement with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Graco will also invest $7 million in child passenger safety programs and education.

Laurel Hurd, president of Graco Children's Products, said in a statement on Friday that the company regretted that it fell short of the NHTSA's expectations for data collection and reporting procedures.

"We accept this fine and the additional funding requested by NHTSA for a joint venture involving child passenger safety initiatives in the future," Hurd said.

The NHTSA announced in December that it was investigating whether Graco took too long to report a safety defect in its child car seats. Graco recalled 6.1 million car seats last year because the buckles could get stuck. That could put a child's life at risk in an emergency. It is the largest child seat recall in U.S. history. Graco has previously said that no injuries had been reported because of the problem.

Federal rules require a manufacturer to report a safety defect within five days of becoming aware of it.

Graco Children's Products Inc. is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Newell Rubbermaid Inc.

A rookie Los Angeles police officer accused of murder fled to Texas with the help of his father, according to a federal warrant issued Thursday.

Henry Solis, 27, is accused of murder in the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Salome Rodriguez Jr. in Pomona last Friday. Solis had been with the LAPD since June 2014 and was terminated from the department on Tuesday.

The warrant alleges Solis got into a physical altercation in downtown Pomona, then "pursued Rodriguez on foot and shot him multiple times, killing him."

Solis is accused in the warrant of calling his father, Victor Solis, the day of the shooting.

"Shortly after these phone calls, Victor Solis left his Lancaster home in a hurry," the warrant states.

FBI agents interviewed Victor Solis in El Paso, Texas, on Monday after he, his dog and his truck were spotted, according to the warrant. Victor Solis allegedly told agents that he drove his son to El Paso on March 13 and dropped him off at a bus station, but that he does not know where his son is.

A warrant issued March 17 by the California Superior Court charged Henry Solis with one count of murder.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck on Tuesday condemned the officer, saying he "dishonored this police department, your country and your service to the country and your family."

"You should turn yourself in and face the consequences for your action," said Beck, who officially terminated Henry Solis from the LAPD later that day.

"The mere fact that he is not cooperating with the Pomona Police Department and he has not shown up for work is sufficient to terminate," Beck said.

Hundreds have been mourning Rodriguez Jr.'s death, with some 200 people attending a Wednesday night vigil.

"God took the backbone of our family," Rodriguez Jr.'s mother Lidia Rodriguez told the crowd.

Eight-year-old brother JJ was in tears as he appealed for justice at the vigil.

"I would like Henry Solis to turn himself in. We just want answers," another family member said.

Police asked anyone with information to call 909-620-2085.

Andrew Blankstein contributed to this report.