L.A. Now

The arrest of a pastor during a routine appointment with an immigration officer Monday has sparked protest and sent worry through Los Angeles’ Latino religious community.

Noe Carias, who now leads an evangelical church near Echo Park, was first deported in 1993 after crossing illegally into the United States as a teenager. The Guatemala native then returned to the U.S.

A 2-year-old boy who just celebrated his birthday Monday was killed Tuesday morning after he was fatally struck by an SUV driven by a relative who was backing out of a driveway, Fontana police said.

“It’s one of the worst calls you can go to,” said Fontana police Officer Jay Sayegh. “It was nothing suspicious, just a tragic accident.”

The incident happened about 10:20 a.m.

Los Angeles should explore whether to create a municipal bank that would finance affordable housing and throw its doors open to the cannabis industry, City Council President Herb Wesson said Tuesday.

Wesson tossed out the idea as part of a sweeping speech that set out his agenda for his final term. In addition to the bank, Wesson said L.A.

An 18-year-old man was in police custody Tuesday after officials say he deliberately abandoned his 2-week-old son in a Northern California barbershop parking lot in broad daylight

Security video showed Daniel Mitchell of Fairfield drive into the parking lot at Sunset Shopping Center in Suisun City before 3:15 p.m.

Scam artists have been trying to extort ransom from dozens of people in Southern California by claiming to hold their relatives hostage in a telephone scheme spanning at least three states, according to the FBI.

At least 80 victims have been targeted in the scheme, which has been going on since 2015, according to court records and a news release issued by the FBI.

A witness who described herself as one of Robert Durst’s “closest, dearest friends” took the stand Tuesday to testify for the prosecution in his murder case, saying that she hoped he would be acquitted if innocent but that it would be wrong to “judge a person’s entire life by one act.”

Emily Altman cried and sighed, occasionally looking over at her friend at the defense table in a Los Angeles courtroom.