Le Journal

A Newport Beach boutique owner said Monday that she’s frustrated and fed up after her shop became the latest burglary victim. Jennifer Sprenger, the owner of the Bella Abby and Ava Boutique on Coast Highway, said a group of men broke into her store at around 3:30 a.m. Sunday after smashing the glass and kicked the door down. Sprenger said the burglars appeared to know what they wanted as they ransacked the shop and went for the most valuable items. “They go right for all the Chanels and the Hermès, and they just load up bag. And they’re out within three minutes,” the boutique owner said. The boutique owner said the burglars appeared to know what to grab from her shop. Surveillance video showed the quick action by the three burglars as well as their getaway vehicles: a brand new BMW and Mercedes with temporary plates from a car dealership. “They don’t have your standard plates on,” she described. Sprenger said luckily she has good insurance, which can help her get through the incident, but she said she, like other business owners, are “tired of being robbed and pillaged.” “We really need the help from the community to help this to stop. This is just a terrible thing,” she said. “We need to find these people.” Sprenger said while she’s installing steel doors to prevent another burglary, she wants the three people in the video footage to be arrested. “They are going out into the Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Southern California areas, and they are robbing people,” she said. “It would be great to get some of the bags back.”

A terrifying moment was caught on camera in Pomona when a man went after a teenager inside a laundromat with a machete and later smashed the glass door of the business. The incident happened Saturday morning on Holt Avenue near Fairplex Drive as 17-year-old Jacob Hernandez was working at his father’s business. The teen said a man walked up to him in the parking lot and began to verbally assault him over his football jersey. “I had a red shirt because the 49ers were playing that day. He came in, saw my shirt and said, ‘Get that red off.'” Security video showed the man walking into the business with a machete as a few customers were inside. At one point, he struck a countertop with his weapon, the teen said. Beverly Hills Jan 16 Man dies after being attacked with metal object, ran over in Beverly Hills Terrorism Dec 23, 2025 How 4 people indicted in suspected NYE bombing plot tried to carry out terror attack across SoCal Phil Hernandez, Jacob’s father, said he was working on a machine when he heard the screams and quickly closed the door while the man stepped outside momentarily. Then, the man smashed the glass door with the machete and walked away, Hernandez described. “What bothered me the most was that he went after my son. I wasn’t suppose to be here that day, and my son works here alone,” Hernandez said. “I’m not sure how my son or anyone would have handled that.” No injuries were reported. Police said no one was arrested as of Monday but added the investigation is ongoing.

An investigation into possible vandalism and hate crime was underway in Los Angeles’ Mid-Wilshire area after a man’s car was carved and painted with offensive language, the Los Angeles Police Department told NBC Los Angeles exclusively Monday. The incident was reported on Orange Drive near Olympic Boulevard Saturday morning as a man checked on 2016 Dodge Charger, which had been parked and covered for a week on the street. When the man uncovered the car, he saw someone had carved and painted the phrase “KKK” on the vehicle in addition to other racial epithets. Investigators believe the suspect left behind thousands of dollars of damage. No arrests were made as of Monday. The LAPD said it’s looking for video and other evidence to track down the perpetrator.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was marked Monday with numerous parades, musical and cultural events and volunteer opportunities throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties on the federal holiday that honors the legacy of the slain civil-rights leader. Monday’s biggest Southland event for the occasion took place in South Los Angeles, where the annual MLK Day parade is under new leadership — Bakewell Media, publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper. Bakewell took over the event — formerly called the Kingdom Day Parade — and rebranded it as the “Los Angeles Official Martin Luther King Day Parade” after the previous organizers, Adrian Dove and the LA chapter of theCongress of Racial Equality California, decided to retire from producing the event. The parade, which annually draws thousands of spectators, began at 10 a.m. Monday at Western Avenue and MLK Jr. Boulevard, ending at Leimert Park. It featured floats, marching bands, faith-based and community organizations, local and national leaders and more. Cedric The Entertainer will serve as grand marshal. Following the parade, L.A. City Council members Marqueece Harris- Dawson, Curren Price and Heather Hutt were set to host the MLK Freedom Festival in the historic Leimert Park Village. The festival featured music performances from the likes of the Grammy award-winning Avila Brothers, along with a community resource fair, local vendors, food trucks and more. Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Culver City, and state Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, D-Los Angeles, were among those scheduled to attend the event. The Freedom Festival will also feature the South Los Angeles Community Coalition’s “The Barbershop,” which aims to replicate the safe spaces that barbershops and nail salons have represented in the Black community for generations. Organizers say the setup was used as a forum to discuss MLK’s call for justice, dignity and collective action. Topics will include community safety, housing, economic justice and the power of people-led solutions. The coalition will also launch a community poll to identify key issues felt by South LA residents. Also Monday, the annual MLK Day Volunteer Festival took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, beginning at noon and run by the nonprofit LA Works. It’s billed as “the largest activation of service event honoring Martin Luther King Jr. at a moment when the city’s need for collective action has never been greater.” The event focused on wildfire recovery and uplifting displaced families, and standing with immigrant communities, organizers said. It included volunteer projects, educational activities, a nonprofit fair and BIPOC small-business zone, a live DJ, and more. According to the festival’s website, tickets were sold out, with “thousands of Angelenos (stepping) … forward to join the movement on MLK Day to transform compassion into action.” “We are at capacity for this year’s event and cannot accommodate walk-ups, but there are still powerful ways to honor Dr. King’s legacy through action,” organizers said. Meanwhile, the volunteer organization Big Sunday was scheduled to conduct its 14th annual MLK Day Clothing Drive & Community Breakfast from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at South Park Elementary School, located at 8510 Towne Ave. Big Sunday aims to collect non-perishable food and clothes for a new, year-round food pantry. In addition to the food and clothes drive, the nonprofit organized gardening and other school beautification projects, arts and crafts activities and a special MLK Day mosaic project. Other Monday MLK events include: In Exposition Park, the California African American Museum, at 600 State Drive, will host a King Day program from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. that will include a community service book donation drive supporting the Little Free Library at the Crenshaw Family YMCA; a faux stained glass workshop; a King study group; and concluding with a performance by the Inner City Youth Orchestra of LA In Santa Clarita, a Unity Walk” will take…