Reward Offered Over Cross-Burning Incident

Calling a cross-burning incident in Shadow Hills “an especially heinous and cruel hate crime,” the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday offered $15,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.

Police said the flaming 6-foot cross was thrown from a passing car onto the driveway of Steven and Tracy Russell, an interracial couple, while a passenger shouted a racial slur.

The Nov. 18 incident, recalling the burning crosses used by the Ku Klux Klan to intimidate blacks, prompted neighbors to rally around the popular couple, who have lived in the neighborhood for more than 14 years.

The council unanimously approved the reward offer one day after the county Board of Supervisors proffered a $5,000 reward in the case.

The county Commission on Human Relations, meanwhile, announced Wednesday that it plans to investigate the attack.

The commission is also sponsoring a January town hall meeting on hate crimes, which was planned before the Shadow Hills incident.

Councilman Joel Wachs introduced the reward motion at the request of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“When confronted with the existence of prejudice or cowardly bullies, we must never look the other way or shrug our shoulders with apathy or resignation,” the motion said.

LAPD investigators said the cross burning, punishable by up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine, could be connected to a recent dispute involving the Russells’ 18-year-old son.

The LAPD and FBI are investigating the crime.

Rewards are typically offered in high-profile cases when investigators run out of leads, but they rarely work. City records show that the council has offered more than $6.7 million in rewards over the past five years, but only about 5% was ever paid.

Anyone with information about the cross burning is asked to call LAPD Foothill Division detectives at (818) 834-3115 during the day, or (818) 756-8861 at night and on weekends.