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I am a reporter at the LA Times with expertise in politics, courts and public health

I work on the breaking news team at the L.A. Times, where I have covered the Palisades and Eaton fires and ICE raids and immigration protests. I write on a wide range of topics including crime, politics, environmental disasters and more. I also help produce vertical videos on my reporting for the L.A. Times Instagram.

Previously, I was a politics reporter at the LA Daily News. In 2024 I won first place in investigative journalism from the LA Press Club for my reporting on fentanyl addiction.

I have appeared live on CBS News, BBC News, Sky News, Spectrum 1 News and more. 

Recent stories

Los Angeles Times •

A child dies. Two men vanish. Police investigate secretive California religious group

This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. The ambulance siren blared down the quiet residential street where a 4-year-old boy was dying.When police and paramedics arrived at 1521 Latham St. in Colton, they had no clue they were entering the home of a secretive religious group that — years later — would land in the spotlight after two members were reported missing.Inside the house, police found Timothy Thomas unresponsive with vomit around his mouth, ac...
Los Angeles Times •

He was one of California’s most notorious Mexican outlaws. Now they ride in his honor

CANTUA CREEK, Calif. — For three days and 65 miles, the riders will travel through the heat and dust of the Central Valley to honor a man from the Gold Rush era who, depending on the point of view, was either a freedom fighter or a ruthless criminal.Their journey begins in Cantua Creek, a rural community in Fresno County, where California Rangers claimed to have shot and killed Joaquin Murrieta in 1853. As proof, they cut off his head and pickled it in a jar.The nearby California Historical Land...
Los Angeles Times •

Soaring burglaries in post-fire Altadena rattle residents: 'Trauma on top of the trauma'

When the smoke of the Eaton fire cleared, residents whose homes were left standing believed they had escaped disaster. But many are finding that blessing comes with a curse. They are now prime targets for opportunistic thieves who prowl their neighborhoods at night. Jenna and Howard Morris’ home has been burglarized three times: first on the night they evacuated, then at the start of April and then again the following week. “When we found out that our home survived, we had no idea that three mon...
Los Angeles Times •

How an 836-pound 'cursed' emerald traveled the Americas, ruining lives and bankrupting men

It was an ordinary day at his Los Angeles law office when John Nadolenco opened a letter from Brazil enlisting his help in a mission to retrieve a stolen, and quite possibly cursed, 836-pound emerald.The year was 2014, the heyday of the Nigerian prince email scam, and the up-and-coming attorney was no fool. “I immediately thought it was just completely fake, a total hoax,” he said. “I was like, ‘I’m not falling for this one. I’m smarter than this.’”He tossed the letter in the trash.But Nadolenco...

BBC News interview on UCLA Palestine protests and arrests

I completed a live interview with BBC News, just hours after police arrested over 200 protesters at UCLA's "Palestine Solidarity Encampment." During the clip, I explain the escalating tensions and violence on campus in the lead up to the arrests as well as what might come next for the student protest movement.


CBS interview on fentanyl investigation

A marketplace for shoplifted goods, a high concentration of drug dealers and a general tolerance for open air drug use have put MacArthur Park at the epicenter of LA's fentanyl epidemic.

I spent five months investigating this deadly crisis and shared my findings on CBS News Los Angeles.

CBS Interview on primary elections

A day before the March 5 primary election, I joined the KCAL News team to preview some of the key LA area races during two live interviews. I discussed the races for US Senate, LA County District Attorney and LA City Council District 4 & 14 as well as expectations for voter turn out.

More of my work

Los Angeles Times •

ICE raids across L.A. spark backlash; Trump officials vow to continue operations

Fallout from aggressive U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps in Los Angeles continued Saturday, with fierce pushback from protesters, open sparring between L.A. leadership and federal officials and the Trump administration vowing to send the National Guard to the city to assist with operations.Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News the Guard would be deployed Saturday night to help with operations. It’s unclear how many Guard members would arrive and exactly what their role would be.It c...
Los Angeles Times •

Firefighters gain ground on deadly L.A. wildfires, but more wind is on the way

Calmer winds and higher humidity helped firefighters make progress Saturday battling an unprecedented fire siege that has devastated the foothill community of Altadena and coastal enclave of Pacific Palisades — but officials warned that Santa Ana gusts will pick up again next week and cautioned the public to stay on alert. “These winds, combined with low humidity and low fuel moisture, will keep the fire threat in Los Angeles County high,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Satur...
Los Angeles Times •

Palisades fire: Worst is 'yet to come' as winds gain speed, ground aircraft

Fearsome winds forced crews to ground firefighting aircraft in the battle against the Palisades fire on Tuesday night, making it even more challenging for firefighters to get a handle on the fast-growing blaze.The use of aircraft was halted shortly before 8 p.m., and Los Angeles fire officials said they would continually reassess weather conditions to determine when they might be used again, said Margaret Stewart with the Los Angeles Fire Department. The fire remained 0% contained at 11 p.m. Tue...
Los Angeles Times •

Women once held in California 'rape club' prison reach historic settlement to protect inmates

Inmates at a recently closed, scandal-plagued Bay Area women’s prison dubbed “the rape club” have reached a historic settlement that will increase oversight and protections for about 500 inmates transferred out of that facility and into federal prisons across the U.S.In August 2023, eight inmates formerly housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin filed a class-action lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons on behalf of individuals who were incarcerated at the facility, alleg...
Los Angeles Times •

Graphic details emerge in Monterey sex assault claim against Pete Hegseth, Trump's Cabinet pick

A woman told Monterey police that Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Defense secretary, took her phone, blocked her from leaving his hotel room and sexually assaulted her, according to a newly released police report. The Monterey Police Department on Wednesday night released a 22-page report revealing graphic details in the October 2017 assault allegation filed against Hegseth, which did not result in any charges. The report shows two starkly different narratives about what un...
Los Angeles Times •

A surf gang at Lunada Bay harassed outsiders for decades. Can anything stop them?

Lunada Bay is the stuff big wave surfers’ dreams are made of. During a heavy swell, 20-foot waves unfurl in a perfect right-hand line, delivering a potent blend of adrenaline and serenity. “It feels like a little hit of a drug, honestly, because it’s just so beautiful, so magical,” surfer Sofly Matturi said. “The wave is your canvas.”When the surf’s up, only a dozen or so surfers can be found riding the wave, tucked in a cove beneath the cliffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Visiting Lunada Bay...
dailynews •

Fentanyl addiction fuels underground shoplifting economy in LA’s MacArthur Park

For someone with no phone, no home, no job and no more possessions than can fit into a backpack, this is no easy task. So Elliot, like many others battling addiction, makes money for fentanyl by selling shoplifted goods to street vendors around MacArthur Park.

The Southern California News Group interviewed Elliot, dozens of other people who use fentanyl, business owners, residents, LAPD personnel, homeless outreach workers, and medical professionals over several months, discovering how the inte
dailynews •

My fight with fentanyl: Stories from 3 people battling addiction

They are among the many people bound by addiction to MacArthur Park, the sluggishly beating heart of Los Angeles’s fentanyl epidemic.

In any given week, hundreds of people come to the neighborhood to purchase and use fentanyl, a synthetic opioid responsible for 1,504 fatal overdoses in Los Angeles County in 2021, according to the most-recent available data from the county’s Department of Public Health.

For every person killed by fentanyl, many more are living with it. And those who are addicte