The mother of Kendrec McDade called for the police officers who "got away with murder" after shooting him dead to be prosecuted after portions of an independent report criticizing their conduct were revealed.

The report, which examined what led up to the unarmed teenager being  gunned down in March 2012, had been held up in the courts for months. Parts of it were finally revealed and read by members of the public to the Pasadena City Council Monday night.

Oscar Carillo called police after his backpack was snatched from him near a taco truck on the street. He wanted police to respond quickly, so he called 911 and lied that the thief had pulled a gun on him. In 2013 he admitted reporting false information to police, taking a plea deal which sentenced him to three months in jail.

The Los County Office of Independent Review criticized the Pasadena Police Department Officers Jeffrey Newlen and Mathew Griffin for "repeated tactical errors" made just before the 19-year-old was shot. A Los Angeles County district attorney's office report had previously cleared the pair, who had followed McDade from the scene of the reported armed robbery in northwest Pasadena before the shooting occurred.

"I feel that Officer Newlen and Officer Griffin got away with murder." McDade's mother Anya Slaughter said, "They should be prosecuted or their badges should be taken away from them. This should not happen to another mother."

McDade's mother also addressed the council itself, before making her statement outside a police station.

She also joined a protest of Black Lives Matter movement calling for the release of Jasymine Richards.  

The 28-year-old protester was jailed for allegedly making terrorist threats last week in Pasadena marking the third anniversary of McDade's death.

A Pasadena Police Department spokesman said the two officers were not disciplined because they did not violate policy.

A Los Angeles County district attorney's office report into the shooting in 2012 said the officers had reasonably believed McDade, 19, was armed with a gun based on false information from a 911 caller.

"The actions of McDade during the pursuit in conjunction with the information known to the officers at the time of the shooting reasonably created a fear of imminent death or serious bodily injury," Deputy District Attorney Deborah A. Delport wrote in the report. "Once the officers perceived that McDade posed an apparent lethal threat their response with deadly force was justified."

It’s the call that’s left hundreds of thousands of American taxpayers terrified and confused: someone posing as a representative of the federal government insists they owe money to the IRS, and if they don’t pay immediately, they’ll face stiff penalties or even jail time.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, more than 400,000 people have reported receiving the bogus calls in recent months. An estimated 3,100 unlucky people have actually handed over their hard-earned cash, though investigators believe the number could be much higher, because victims may be embarrassed to come forward.

But not Orange County resident Lori Whalen.

The longtime nurse reached out to the I-Team, hoping that telling her story may protect others from falling for the same trick.

"They just had me so frightened," Whalen recalls, thinking back to the phone call she got last month.  The caller told her she owed $3,845.24 in back taxes to the IRS, and warned that the government would seize her home and 401k if she didn’t pay up immediately.

"It’s very intimidating," she said. "People become frightened."

Whalen was scared enough to race to a local supermarket, using her hard-earned savings to buy eight prepaid debit cards.

"I’m a 'fix it' person. I do whatever I have to do to fix things," she explains.

Whalen called the number given to her by the phony IRS agent, and read him the serial numbers on the cards. She realized hours after hanging up the phone that she’d been scammed.

"I was embarrassed, I felt guilty, I felt ashamed," she told the I-Team.

Now her main emotion is anger, which is why she’s determined to speak out, and warn others about the scam. Still in possession of the phone number provided by the phony agent, she also managed to vent some of her rage to the crook, texting a pointed message.

"I said ‘you’re a criminal,’" she recalls. "And I said 'criminals make mistakes, and one day you’ll be caught.'"

That’s what federal agents are hoping, despite an ongoing investigation that’s turned up few suspects "because it’s so easy to pick up the phone and call somebody," Tim Camus, deputy inspector general for IRS investigations, told the I-Team.

Camus says since the calls started spiking in 2013, agents have arrested just four people so far in connection with the crime.

"We believe that it initially [was] started by one particular group," Camus said. "Now, possibly there are others."

So far, the U.S. Treasury Department has received upward of 400,000 complaints stemming from the calls.

California taxpayers have taken the hardest hit, paying out close to $3 million.

If you believe you've been a victim of an IRS impersonation scam, report it by visiting this link.

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.

Two people were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with a robbery and attack near the Rose Bowl that left an 87-year-old man hospitalized.

The victim was out for a morning walk Friday near the famed Pasadena football stadium when he was attacked on West Drive, north of Salvia Canyon Road. He suffered head injuries and was hospitalized in critical condition.

A pouch containing personal information was taken during the robbery, police said.

Two 19-year-old men surrendered to police Monday. They were arrested on suspicion of robbery and attempted murder, Pasadena police said.

Police reviewed surveillance video as part of the investigation that showed three men and a woman in their teens and 20s at a Pasadena service station attempting to use the victim's credit card shortly after the attack, officials said.

It was not immediately clear whether the two men in custody are seen in the surveillance video or whether more arrests are possible.

Labor leaders on Tuesday marched in Los Angeles to call for immigration reform and better conditions for hundreds of produce workers on Cesar Chavez Day.

Carrying signs reading, "Respect & Dignity," dozens of workers marched from the Teamsters Local 630 to the docks of the LA Produce Market.

"My parents were immigrants," said Ernest Lopez, who participated in the march. "They came from the farms. They educated themselves, got good jobs. I'd really like to see more organized companies and see the good for them. They're fighting hard."

The march took place on a holiday to remember the late labor leader credited with improving work and quality-of-life conditions for immigrant farmworkers in central California.

Chavez, an advocate of nonviolence, is remembered for spearheading a grape boycott in 1965 that went nationwide in 1968 and lasted until 1978, resulting in higher wages for farmworkers and focusing national attention on their plight.

In 2011, President Barack Obama proclaimed March 31 of each year as Cesar Chavez Day nationally, although it is not a federal holiday.

In this year's proclamation, Obama recalled that after Chavez "fought for higher wages, he pushed for fresh drinking water, workers' compensation, pension plans, and protection from pesticides.

He strove every day for the America he knew was possible."

Marchers on Tuesday were asking employers for higher wages, better health care and safety conditions and fair treatment.

Hector "Paco" Castrellon, the vice president of Tijuana’s Produce in LA, wasn’t aware of the march, but said he sympathized.

"We depend on them to get our jobs done," he said. "Of course they should be taken care of."

A California man accused of using a razor blade to carve his name onto his girlfriend's chest was arraigned Monday on kidnapping and domestic battery charges, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

Sergio Joaquin Mendoza, 25, was arrested after allegedly abusing the woman on numerous occasions between March 17 and 20, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

The DA's office had first reported Mendoza was 39 years old but corrected his age to 25.

The Santa Ana man was charged with a felony count of kidnapping, a felony count of criminal threats, two felony counts of domestic battery with corporal injury, and a sentencing enhancement for personal use of a deadly weapon, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.

Mendoza allegedly got into multiple verbal fights with the victim and punched her on several occasions, prosecutors said. He is also accused of making her sit in his car while he was at work under the threat of violence.

On March 22, he allegedly tried to stop her from leaving a relative's house where he was staying, only allowing it on the condition she let him carve his name on her body, the DA's office said. Mendoza then used a razor blade to cut his first name on onto her chest, according to prosecutors. 

That evening he allegedly forced her into his vehicle, then drove around Santa Ana while threatening to hurt her if she tried to leave, according to the district attorney's office. The next day, he allegedly punched her on the head, attempted to strangle her and head-butted her in the face, prosecutors claim.

Eventually, she managed to escape, with an employee calling police after she ran into a local business. Mendoza was arrested March 26, prosecutors said.

Mendoza is being held on $100,000 bail and is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on April 8. He faces a maximum sentence of 11 years and eight months in state prison if convicted.

It was not immediately clear whether he obtained an attorney.

Sorry, "Elizabeth Warren for President" holdouts.

The U.S. senator from Massachusetts on Tuesday dealt another blow to supporters — and rivals on the right — hoping she'll enter the 2016 race, repeating her intention to stay on the sidelines. 

"No, I am not running and I’m not going to run," she told NBC's Savannah Guthrie in an interview.

"I'm not running. I'm not running," she repeated when asked again whether there was any room to hedge.

Warren, who has gained a national profile as a vocal critic of Wall Street, has insisted for months that she does not plan to run against likely candidate and frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary. On Tuesday, as she appeared on the "Today" show to promote her new memoir, she said serving in the U.S. Senate is the best platform for fighting for changes on financial regulation, student loans and more.

“I’m in Washington and I’ve got this really great job and a chance to try to make a difference on things that really matter," she said.

The senator's own words haven't stopped supporters on the left from continuing a draft-Warren effort to lay groundwork and generate support for a run. Republicans have also used the buzz surrounding a possible Warren bid to rally their base — citing the progressive Democrat in fundraising emails and other appeals for support.

Even as she rejected the speculation surrounding her own plans, Warren sidestepped a question about whether Clinton is the best messenger on issues embraced by the party's liberal wing.

“I think we need to give her a chance to decide if she’s going to run and declare and to lay out what she wants to run on," she said. "I think that's her opportunity to do that.”

To whoever has been pooping on the public bike path in Hampton, Illinois – please stop, officials have asked.

“Stop pooping on bike path,” read two new signs along the trail. And no, it’s not a message directed towards pets.

Apparently joggers who poop along the path have been an increasing problem for Hampton over the past two years, the city’s Public Works supervisor Scott McKay told NBC station KWQC.

"When the individual does it, it does it right in the lane. It’s not on the center line. It’s not off on the grass," he said. 

McKay said there's certainty the act is done by a human and not an animal because the culprit adorns it with toilet paper and leaves the same footprints.

So now he's taken matters into his own hands. In case the runners were under the guise that it was okay to use Mother Nature’s open roadways as their personal toilet, they now have a friendly reminder educating them otherwise.

McKay said he hopes the signs solve the problem.

Already sharpening No. 2 pencils and flipping through those flashcards in anticipation of Advanced Placement exam season? You're not alone.

More than 1.4 million public school students took AP exams last year, a 3.8 percent increase from the previous year, according to figured released by the College Board. While the figures for public school population for 11th and 12th graders was not readily available, the College Board reports that roughly 3 million students graduated in 2013.

With the increase in participation came an uptick in students passing the exams, which cover subjects like physics, foreign languages and U.S. history. The success of the nation’s 11th and 12th grade public school students has doubled in the past decade, from 7.6 percent in 2004 to 13.2 percent in 2014, according to the College Board.

About 400,000 minority students took the exams last year, a 7 percent increase for a group that was historically underrepresented in the demographic breakdown of text-takers. Hispanic students are now participating in the AP program at almost the same rate as the nation overall — 19.1 percent of Hispanic students took an AP Exam in 2014, compared to a nationwide figure of 21.9 percent. 

Despite those gains, gaps are still evident for other minority groups. Only 12.9 percent of African American and 12 percent of Native American 11th and 12th grade public high school students took an AP test in May 2014, according to the College Board.

College Board also reported a rise in participation among low-income students. About 350,000 low-income students took an AP exam last year, a 7.3 percent rise. The number of students that use fee reductions in order to take AP exams has climbed as well, doubling from 2004 from 11.8 to 24 percent.

For 2014, Washington D.C. topped the charts for participation with 38.6 percent of students who took the AP exam. North Dakota came in last with only 8.1 percent. However, when it came to actually passing the exam, Maryland was the winner with 22 percent of their students gaining the college credit, while Mississippi was at the bottom of the list with only 3.2 percent of students passing. Overall, 15 states exceeded the national average of 13.2 percent.

A lot rides on a passing grade on an AP exam. A student who receives a passing grade may not have to take the same class in college, which can save money as college tuitions continue to rise.

On average, a student who passes two AP exams saves $1,779 at a public college and more than $6,000 at a private school, according to the 2013 College Board report “Trends in College pricing.” In order to pass an AP exam, a student has to score at least a 3 out of 5.
 

Chicago resident Tony Marengo says he is used to seeing vehicles get towed out of the Walgreen’s parking lot across from his River North apartment at Clark and Ontario – but never with a driver still behind the wheel of the car.

Marengo said he was at home around 8:30 p.m. Sunday when he heard loud yelling from outside. When he went to the window, he saw a tow truck traveling with a white jeep on the back.

Seems normal, but soon he noticed the yelling was coming from inside of the car being towed – the driver was still inside.

“We could hear the guy in the driver’s seat of the car yelling out of the window,” Marengo said.

“He was like, ‘Hey! Hey! Hey, buddy!’” he said of the frantic driver trying to get the tow truck operator’s attention.

Marengo says it was then that the tow truck finally pulled over to the side of the road. And once he did, he was the one in for the surprise – as the man behind the Jeep put his car in drive and sped off.

“It was crazy,” said Marengo, who is CEO and President of Chicago-based Company The MacTutor, Inc. “Then he was just sitting there, I imagine calling a supervisor or something.”

Marengo captured the whole ordeal on his phone and uploaded the video to his YouTube account. It has garnered nearly 10,000 views in less than 24 hours.

Gasoline prices fell in Southern California for the 26th day in a row Tuesday.

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County dropped seven-tenths of a cent to $3.246.

In total, the average price has dropped by 29.1 cents over the past 26 days, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. 

However it still does not wipe out a $1.078 hike in costs during a 34-day streak of increases preceding the current run of price drops.

But gasoline is still an impressive 82.5 cents below what it was one year ago, and 22.7 cents less than just a month ago.

A similar drop was observed in Orange County, though it actually outperformed LA by dropping 31.9 cents over the past 26 days, including a half-cent on both Sunday and Monday. 

The average price also dropped for 26th day in a row, decreasing nine-tenths of a cent to $3.203. This is 84.9 cents less than a year ago, and 25.8 cents cheaper than last month.

The Orange County average price had risen by $1.09 during a 33-day streak of increases that ended just before the current streak of declines began.

The dropping pump prices are the result of stabilized wholesale gasoline prices and dropping oil prices, according to Automobile Club of Southern California's corporate communications manager Jeffrey Spring.  

City News Service contributed to this report.

Streets were closed Tuesday in a Los Feliz neighborhood while firefighters battled a fire at a duplex from which residents could hear popping sounds that turned out to be exploding lights, officials said.

The fire was reported just after 2 p.m. at a two-story residence in the 4300 block of West Franklin Avenue in Los Feliz, said Robert Hinojosa, Los Angeles Fire Department.

The location is across the street from an elementary school. There was no immediate word on injuries or evacuations.

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in Apple Valley as a brush fire continues to spread Tuesday afternoon.

The brush fire had spread to more than 60 acres at 2 p.m., and animals and residents on Riverside Drive north of Seneca Road, according to the Apple Valley Police Department.

The San Bernardino County Fire Department tweeted that the River Bottom Fire had two heads, with one under control at 1:30 p.m. and the other threatening structures.

Ground and air crews are attacking the fire.

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

Ever wonder how much time you spend sitting in traffic? If you live in LA, you're in traffic for a staggering 95 hours a year.

The NYPD says the Civilian Complaint Review Board has taken over the investigation into a video that appears to show a police officer verbally abusing an Uber driver in an at-times xenophobic roadside tirade in the West Village Monday.

Police confirmed late Tuesday afternoon that the plain-clothed man seen screaming in the now viral video is a member of the NYPD, but they did not identify him. A spokesman said the department is "aware of the incident and video and it is under review."

The NYPD later said that the CCRB, an independent city agency with subpoena power, has taken over the investigation. 

The video was posted to YouTube by Sanjay Seth, one of the passengers in the Uber car. According to Seth's YouTube post, his Uber driver honked his car horn at the officer later seen screaming in the video because the officer was trying to park on a Sixth Precinct street in the middle of the afternoon without using any blinkers or hazard lights, and the Uber driver's path to a green light was blocked.

The officer, seen wearing a green tie and blue shirt at points in the passenger video, got out of his unmarked car, which had flashing blue and red lights on the dashboard, and flagged down the Uber driver.

The three-minute video begins as the officer approaches the Uber driver's window and starts yelling at the driver, raising his voice over the Uber driver's muted apologies and efforts to interject.

"Stop it with your mouth, stop it with your, 'For what, sir,'" the officer is heard saying in the video as he curses. "Stop it with that ... and realize the three vehicle and traffic law violations you committed."

"You understand me? I don't know what [epithet] planet you think you're on right now," the officer yells, making fun of the Uber driver's accent.

The officer then slams the hood of the Uber car and walks away; the Uber driver tries to apologize to his passengers, who tell him it was not his fault and inform him a video of the exchange was recorded. One of the passengers said it appeared the officer was on a "power trip;" the other called the man's behavior "really inappropriate."

The officer returns to the Uber car about 90 seconds after slamming the hood and storming off, the video shows, and continues to curse at and belittle the driver. The driver keeps trying to dissolve the situation with respectful apologies. Then the officer goes off on him. 

"I don't know where you're coming from or where you think you're appropriate in doing that," the man yells, apparently in reference to the car honk from earlier. "That's not the way it works. How long have you been in this country?"

"Almost how long? Two years?" the officer yells after the driver whispers a response. "I got news for you and use this lesson: Don't ever do that again. The only reason you're not in handcuffs going to jail and getting summonses in the precinct is because I have things to do."

"That's the only reason that's not happening, because this isn't important enough to me, you're not important enough," he says.

The officer turns toward the passengers in the back seat, asks if they are fares and says something about the Uber driver wasting their days, too. The officer hands the driver some kind of piece of paper that looks like a ticket and leaves as the passenger cellphone video pans to the flashing lights on the dashboard of his vehicle, parked behind the Uber car. 

Seth posted video of the exchange on multiple social media accounts. On his Facebook page, he wrote, "Our Uber driver, Humayun, was abused by a police officer today in New York. The rage, door slamming, throwing items into the car, threatening arrest without cause was bad enough -- but the officer's remarks at the end really took it to another level."

Seth wrote on Facebook that he reported the exchange to the Civilian Complaint Review Board. According to his profile, Seth works at a nonprofit in the city and used to work for the parks department.

Asked about the exchange by NBC 4 New York, Seth wrote, "This very unfortunate incident is between the driver, Uber, the officer, and the relevant authorities."

Uber called the behavior in the video "wrong" and "unacceptable," and said it appreciated the NYPD investigating.

"We are in touch with our driver-partner who was subjected to this terrible experience and will continue to provide any support he needs," Matthew Wing, a spokesman for the ride share company, said. 

The CCRB handles complaints about four kinds of alleged police misconduct: force, abuse of authority, discourtesy and offensive language. 

One person was killed and seven others were injured Tuesday after a driver crashed a truck into a store in Fort Worth while fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run crash, police say.

Officials investigating the crash said the male driver of the truck was first involved in a minor crash at Riverside Drive and U.S. Highway 287. After the crash the driver raced away on Riverside Drive at speeds of up to 100 mph, officials said.

The driver, whose identity has not yet been revealed, then lost control of his truck and crashed into the Star Food Mart near the intersection of Riverside Drive and East Lancaster Avenue, trapping several people.

Fort Worth firefighters arrived and began working to free the trapped victims while also stabilizing the building. At one point, firefighters used a fire truck to pull the pickup from the building, freeing a woman who was trapped.

Employees at neighboring businesses rushed to the scene to help the victims and worked to remove some of the debris. Nearby construction workers were able to quickly shut off the electricity to the building since electrical wires were exposed.

One of the eight injured was a woman trapped by the truck who had to be extricated by firefighters. She has been identified as 24-year-old Sylvia Zazueta. She was transported to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth in critical condition, but did not survive her injuries, according to MedStar EMS.

Seven other patients were transported to area hospitals with minor injuries; three were transported to Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth and four to JPS. One of the injured was a passenger in the truck, the other was the driver who was transported to JPS for treatment.

Fort Worth police confirmed to NBC 5 they believe the driver of the truck was under the influence of a narcotic. He was arrested for intoxication manslaughter.

NBC 5's Holley Ford, Chris Van Horne and Jocelyn Lockwood contributed to this report. We will update this story with more information as soon as it's available. As this story is developing, elements may change.

USC athletic director Pat Haden says he won’t be heading to Indianapolis this week for the College Football Playoff selection committee meeting in response to Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s decision to sign the widely-protested “Religious Freedom” bill.

“I am the proud father of a gay son,” Haden wrote to his 17,000 followers on Twitter Tuesday. “In his honor, I will not be attending the CFP committee meeting in Indy this week. #EmbraceDiversity”

I am the proud father of a gay son. In his honor, I will not be attending the CFP committee meeting in Indy this week. #EmbraceDiversity

• Indiana Gov: We Intend to Fix "Perception" Problem of Law

— Pat Haden (@ADHadenUSC) March 31, 2015

The law sparked outrage from many in Indiana's business community and others with ties -- established and planned -- to the Hoosier state.

The public-employee union known as AFSCME announced Monday it was canceling a planned women's conference in Indianapolis this year because of the law. The band Wilco said it was canceling a May performance.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued an open letter to Indiana corporations saying Virginia is a business-friendly state that does "not discriminate against our friends and neighbors," while Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel sent letters to more than a dozen Indiana businesses, urging them to relocate to a "welcoming place to people of all races, faiths and countries of origin."

Pence, on the other hand, says the bill he signed into law week has been "grossly mischaracterized" and subjected to "shoddy reporting," but on Tuesday announced that he and legislators have been working around the clock to draft new legislation to clarify its intent.

"We've got a perception problem here ... and we intend to correct that," Pence told reporters.

Family members and investigators asked for help Monday in finding a missing 15-year-old with autism who was last seen leaving her home in Mar Vista March 24.

Kimberly Greenberg needs medication, which she has been without since leaving home. Her mother, Janice Greenberg, said she is frantic to find her daughter as police continue to follow up on what they called a few reported sightings.

"It is the worst thing you could ever imagine happening," she said. "Absolutely horrific."

Greenberg was last seen leaving her home in the 11200 block of Westminster Avenue around 8 p.m. Janice Greenberg said her daughter only ever ventured to her best friend’s house or her aunt’s, both nearby.

"We consider her a critical missing due to her need for medication, so we are asking the public’s help so if you see her, please contact us," said Lt. Rudy Lopez of LAPD’s Pacific Division.

Kimberly Greenberg is described as 4 feet 10 inches tall and about 110 pounds. She has a small build and light complexion. She was last seen wearing a red sweater, jeans and Ugg boots.

Anyone with information is asked to call LAPD’s Pacific Division at 310-482-6371 or LAPD’s main phone line at 877-LAPD-24-7.

Firefighters broke down the door of a burning Pasadena house Monday night to rescue a dog whose family members were out of town.

A neighbor began banging on windows of the house in the 1500 block of Old House Road after noticing the fire, but soon realized no one -- except the dog -- was home.

"I saw a huge billow of smoke," said neighbor Megan Summers. "We checked to make sure no one was in the house."

Summers waited for firefighters to arrive and let them know the dog was inside the home. After firefighters knocked down the door, the small dog escaped unharmed, Summers said.

"The dog came running out and was really scared," Summers said. "I grabbed him because I thought he was going to run into the backyard. Poor thing, but we have her safe and sound."

Another neighbor called the homeowners, who were visiting the Bay Area, to let them know and the fire. The fire, reported at 8:45 p.m., caused an estimated $900,000 worth of damage, according to the Pasadena Fire Department.

A housesitter had been looking after the home, but was not around at the time of the fire, City News Service reported.

Details regarding a cause were not immediately available.

A University of Southern California professor who has studied Los Angeles' Metro system for the last 25 years says he warned the agency of dangers at a crossing where a student was critically injured in a car crash with a train over the weekend.

"This was not the first one and unfortunately will not be the last one," said USC researcher and engineering professor Dr. Najmedin Meshkati.

On Saturday, investigators say 31-year-old USC film student Jacob Fadley illegally made a left-hand turn, when the train slammed into his car and derailed.

"Our report was almost like 400 pages long - nobody listened," Meshkati said. "I think it's a function of lack of leadership and good oversight."

Meshkati wrote a paper about the safety of the then proposed Expo Line in 2007, and worked for free as a consultant for community groups that wanted more safety measures in place.

Back in 2012 he said Rodeo Road and Exposition Boulevard was particularly problematic, and that it was in his opinion  one of the most confusing and dangerous intersections in L.A. County. He said it had to be be redesigned and simplified for safety reasons.

Meshkati points to design flaws in every rail line of the city.

"The light train right of way was there, they put a track over there, they put some arms and gates and said OK, you guys work with it. This is not a good way," Meshkati said.

For Metro's part, it leans on the California Public Utilities Commission for compliance and tout a strong safety record that continues to make improvements. But they admit much of that rides on the public doing its part to stay safe.

"Those train cars weigh a 100,000 pounds apiece," said Metro's Marc Littman. "Even going at slow speeds they can't stop on a dime."

Littman said Metro train crashes are rare.

"We average on the light rail system about one motor vehicle accident for every 200,000 miles we travel," he said.

Metro said it is looking through onboard surveillance video in its investigation into the circumstances surrounding Saturday's crash.