Rewards May Help Solve Fire, Slaying

Investigators looking for information about the killing of a nurse working in the Van Nuys jail and an arson on Woodman Avenue may have some help from two reward offers.

The City Council on Wednesday approved a reward offer of $20,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for an arson at a home on the 5000 block of Woodman Avenue in Sherman Oaks.

Two children were seriously burned in the fire that started in the early morning hours of March 16, apparently the result of a fire bomb tossed in the second-floor bedroom window.

Neighbors had reported seeing a dark Nissan sedan leaving the alley below the children’s room. Arson investigators from the Los Angeles Fire Department are handling the case.

The council also is expected to approve another reward offer Tuesday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who killed a nurse who worked in Van Nuys jail.

Rosie Jane Almeyda, 35, was driving eastbound on the Pomona Freeway to her Hemet home after working a swing shift last Oct. 20 when she was shot and killed by a passing motorist, authorities said.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is investigating her death, but because Almeyda was a Los Angeles city employee, L.A.’s Personnel Department and Police Department have asked for a $25,000 reward.