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I am a breaking news reporter at the LA Times with expertise in wildfires, the environment, homelessness and public health

I work on the Fast Break desk at the L.A. Times, where I recently helped cover the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. As a breaking news reporter, I write on a wide range of topics including crime, courts, environmental disasters and more. 

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 •

Pacific Palisades fire explodes to nearly 3,000 acres as thousands of residents flee, homes are lost

A fire was burning out of control Tuesday in Pacific Palisades, destroying homes and forcing residents to abandon their vehicles and flee amid a potentially “life-threatening and destructive” windstorm.Wide swaths of Pacific Palisades, Topanga and Malibu were under an evacuation order by the afternoon, as residents fought traffic jams and heavy smoke as they tried to escape the nearby flames. The Palisades fire broke out around 10:30 a.m. near Piedra Morada Drive and was pushed by intense wind g...
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...
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 •

Latino residents slam 'trust fund hipsters' in ugly L.A. gentrification battle

For the young and upwardly mobile hipsters of Northeast L.A., the Frogtown Flea Crawl was the hot new event of their perfectly Instagrammable dreams.For many residents of the historically working-class Latino community, it was their breaking point.This fall, the event became an unexpected flash point in L.A.’s debate over gentrification as long-simmering neighborhood tensions exploded and a vocal group of residents ultimately pushed the ultra-popular flea market out of town.The twice-monthly cra...

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 •

'Horrifying' fire at California lithium battery plant sparks calls for new clean energy rules

When a massive fire erupted at one of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage facilities in Monterey County, it didn’t just send plumes of smoke over nearby communities — it cast a pall over the future of California’s clean energy industry.The fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant, which ignited on Jan. 16, burned for five days and ultimately destroyed around 80% of the batteries inside the building. Now, as the smoke clears, Monterey-area officials warn that the blaze may be a harbinger...
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 •

Ex-wife, 4 others conspired to kill Woodland Hills doctor outside his practice, police say

The ex-wife of a Woodland Hills doctor has been arrested along with four others in his execution-style slaying outside his medical practice this summer, according to police. Hamid Mirshojae was shot in the back of the head as he walked to his car after work on Aug. 23. The shooting occurred a few months after the doctor was jumped by a trio of men with baseball bats, an attack that he said left him fearing for his life.His ex-wife, Ahang Kelk, was taken into custody Thursday on suspicion of murd...
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 •

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...
Daily News •

UCLA pro-Palestinian encampment left in a rubble as students vow campus protests ‘are not over’


• None Crews clean up the encampment occupied by Palestinian supporters at UCLA on Thursday, May 2, 2024. At around 3:30am law enforcement began arresting the supporters who had been camped out on the quad in front of Royce Hall for about a week. 132 occupiers were taken into custody and clean-up of the area began immediately. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
• None Crews clean up the encampment occupied by Palestinian supporters at UCLA on Thursday, May 2, 2024. At around 3:
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
dailynews •

In LA’s fentanyl epidemic, MacArthur Park community bears the heavy burden

A local shopkeeper hoses down his front stoop, washing away the layer of debris that accumulated overnight.

As water strikes the already hot asphalt, steam rises and mingles with clouds of smoke coming from a group of people slumped on Alvarado Street. A mother shuttles her two young children past the huddle, weaving through dozens of vendors to reach the playground.

The majority Latino, working-class community has adapted to life around one of the largest fentanyl markets in Los Angeles — but
dailynews •

How can LA combat its fentanyl crisis? MacArthur Park offers clues

People pass out with a burned piece of tin foil in one hand and a butane torch lighter in the other. Those who are awake often hunch over to cope with the bone-deep aches of withdrawals.

But a closer look also shows seeds of hope.

There are grassroots efforts working to connect people who use fentanyl with help. There’s a passionate young councilmember trying to launch an overdose prevention team and a harm reduction center offering resources to people who use drugs. There are public health pr