A woman was killed in an apartment fire in Koreatown late Friday, officials said.

Firefighters confined the smoke and flames to one apartment in the building at 1183 S. Hoover St., Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Devin Gales said in a statement.

Three people were taken to hospitals in grave condition and the one woman was pronounced dead at a hospital. A fourth person was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and taken to a hospital in stable condition.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, which displaced 10 people. The American Red Cross was assisting victims. An estimate of the financial loss was not available.
 
-- Lisa Girion

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the robberies of two food trucks in Koreatown, one of which was caught on tape.

The incidents occurred Dec. 29, when police were called to the 3200 block of 8th Street at about 10:30 p.m.

"One of the suspects pointed a handgun at the victims and took their wallets while the other suspect entered the food truck and attempted to rob the employee inside, also using a handgun. Afterward, the suspects ran away from the scene," the LAPD said in a statement. "About 20 minutes later, the same suspects approached another food vending truck in the 4000 block of 3rd Street and robbed the truck employee using the handguns. The two men ran from the scene on foot."

Food truck vendors interviewed by KTLA News said they are concerned about being vulnerable to robberies -- especially at night. Some have added multiple cameras to their trucks as protection.

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-- Shelby Grad

Police are seeking help in identifying the accomplice of a man who was arrested for more than of 20 robberies in Koreatown during November and December.

The suspects waited outside apartment buildings, then followed residents into parking structures where they demanded money and other valuables. The suspects claimed to be armed but it isn’t clear that they ever displayed a weapon, said Det. Lt. John Radtke.

The man in custody is Sammye Johnson, 40, of South Los Angeles, who was recently released from state prison. He’s being held in lieu of $1.2 million bail and his parole also has been revoked, Radtke said.

Among other alleged crimes, Johnson and his partner are under investigation for the robbery of at least two restaurants in Koreatown.

Officers apprehended Johnson on Dec. 16 after the robbery of two victims in the 400 block of Western Avenue. Police arrested him as he tried to drive away.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the other suspect should call detectives at (213) 382-9463.

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-- Howard Blume

A gunman went on a shooting rampage early Sunday, killing a man in Anaheim and wounding another in Los Angeles’ Koreatown 90 minutes later before fatally shooting himself, police said.

The suspect was identified as Young Choi, 54, a Los Angeles resident. Police said the Anaheim victim, Fung Yoon, 55, was the boyfriend of Choi’s former wife.

The tangled trail of violence began about 4:15 a.m. when Anaheim police were called to an apartment in the 1100 block of North West Street, where they found Yoon with several gunshot wounds. The man had been in the apartment with his girlfriend when Choi allegedly turned up and began arguing with the couple, said Anaheim Police Sgt. Rick Martinez.

Choi allegedly pulled a gun and shot the victim several times. The man was taken by paramedics to a hospital, where he died shortly after 5 a.m. His wife fled and was unharmed.

Choi then allegedly drove about 35 miles to the 1100 block of South Irolo Street near Koreatown, where he got into a dispute with the second victim, identified as Ick Choi, 58.

Los Angeles police arrived about 5:30 a.m. and found the second victim standing in the street with a gunshot wound. Officers then heard a shot and found the gunman on the sidewalk with a self-inflicted wound to the head several houses away from where the second victim was shot.

The second victim was in critical condition but expected to live, said Los Angeles Police Det. Adrian Chin. The assailant and second victim were not related but were longtime friends, Chin said. The shooting was apparently caused by an ongoing dispute the two had in the last year, police said.

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-- Carla Rivera, Esmeralda Bermudez and Andrew Blankstein

One man was injured and another fatally shot himself during a dispute in Koreatown early Sunday.

The incident occurred about 5:30 a.m. in the 1100 block of South Irolo Street, said Los Angeles Police Officer Cleon Joseph.

During the fight, one of the men pulled out a gun and shot the other. The gunman then turned the weapon on himself, inflicting a fatal wound.

The survivor's condition was unknown, Joseph said. The identities of the men were not released.

--Carla Rivera

Los Angeles police are searching for a motorist who struck and killed an 81-year-old woman as she walked across Olympic Boulevard early Saturday morning.

Authorities said Gae Sum Park of Los Angeles was hit about 2:30 a.m. while walking outside of a marked crosswalk on Olympic, east of Harvard Boulevard. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene from injuries to her head and body.

Park was possibly struck by a light-colored Toyota 4-Runner sport utility vehicle that made a U-turn and headed west on Olympic before making a left turn on Harvard.

Anyone with information about the accident is encouraged to call traffic detectives at (213) 473-0234. During non-business hours and weekends, calls may be made to 1-877-LAPD-24-7.

-- Dan Weikel

Los Angeles traffic officers shut down a three-block stretch of 3rd Street in Koreatown on Sunday morning while city crews struggled with a power outage and a series of inoperative traffic signals, officials said Sunday.

Firefighters responded at roughly 10:26 a.m. to the 300 block of South Alexandria Avenue after receiving reports of an explosion in an underground vault. Kim Hughes, a spokeswoman for the Department of Water and Power, said there was no explosion but there may have been smoke from an underground cable that failed, knocking out power to roughly 2,700 customers.

The outage prompted traffic officers to close a section of 3rd Street between Normandie and Kenmore avenues while traffic signals were reset. By 2:20 p.m., the street had been reopened and all but 20 DWP customers had their power restored, Hughes said.

-- David Zahniser

A fire in the attic of a historic apartment building in Koreatown was accidental in cause and not arson, Los Angeles Fire Department official Brian Humphrey said.

Investigators said that the fire was probably electrical in nature.

More than 100 residents of the 58-unit building at 614 S. Saint Andrews Place were evacuated after the fire spread from the attic to the roof of the building, said Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Ronnie R. Villanueva.

One occupant was taken to a hospital for treatment of shortness of breath, but there were no serious injuries.

Residents said it was the latest in a string of what appeared to be targeted attacks against the Versailles Apartments in two days.

Jeff Brooks, director of operations for Wexford Management, confirmed that another fire had started in the management office early Thursday morning. And before Friday morning's blaze, someone had fired gunshots into a workout room in the front of the building.

Thursday's fire has been determined to be arson, Humphrey said. It was extinguished by sprinklers and out by the time firefighters arrived.

-- Sam Quinones and Abby Sewell

The concerns about bike thefts in Los Angeles increased Friday as LAPD detectives said they are searching for two men who are responsible for shooting two cyclists who fought the robbers in Koreatown.

One of the victims was so badly wounded during the April 4 robbery that he was only released from the hospital last week, police said.

“They nearly killed him,” said LAPD Det. Dennis Bopp, who is investigating the shootings. “It was a crime of opportunity that turned to violence.”

The shooting unfolded about 3.a.m., when the two victims stopped to get food from a catering truck at Pico Boulevard and Westmoreland Avenue. The victims left their bicycles unguarded nearby. As the men bought food, two men walked up and grabbed their bikes.

The cyclists saw their bikes being wheeled away, chased the robbers and began struggling for control of the bicycles, Bopp said.

One of the robbers pulled out a handgun and shot one of the victims in the ribcage. Then, as they rode off, he shot the second cyclist in the shoulder.

The shooting comes as the LAPD reported a 29% increase in bike thefts last year compared to 2008. Nearly 2,000 bikes were reported stolen last year in Los Angeles -- and authorities believe the actual number of thefts was much higher because so many people don't report stolen bikes.

-- Richard Winton