As it does every year, Long Beach saw its share of crime in 2021. But some incidents were especially memorable, poignant or had an outsized potential to affect the city. Here are the 10 stories we’re still thinking and talking about in the Long Beach Post newsroom:
Restauration defies COVID-19 rules
The year started with the owner of Restauration restaurant on Fourth Street defying coronavirus orders that temporarily shut down down on-site dining. The situation quickly escalated when police and city crews removed what they said was a pirated gas line leading to the eatery, which they’d tried to close down by cutting off utilities. That was just the beginning of the legal saga, with a criminal case still pending against Restauration’s owner, Dana Tanner, even though she’s since closed down her restaurant.
The death of Mona Rodriguez
Few stories this year drew as much widespread attention as the death of 18-year-old Mona Rodriguez, who police say was riding in the passenger seat of a fleeing car near Millikan High School when a school safety officer shot at the vehicle, killing her. The officer, Eddie F. Gonzalez, has since been fired by the Long Beach Unified School district and charged with murder. The story will undoubtedly continue next year as Gonzalez’s trial looms and the LBUSD debates the role of armed officers at school.
Triple shooting at The Pike
Long Beach’s rise in gun violence this year was driven home in June by a shooting that wounded three people at The Pike during a busy Saturday evening. Police quickly arrested the shooting suspects and said the swift action of two officers saved the life of one victim who’d been shot in the neck.
Attacks on street vendors
Long Beach continued to rally around its street vendors this year after some were attacked, robbed and harassed. The spate of high-profile attacks garnered an outpouring of support from residents last year, and this year they even prompted the City Council to work on a program to assist the neighborhood vendors.
Hateful vandalism at MLK Park
Neighbors were outraged in July when someone painted a swastika and SS bolts on the Martin Luther King Jr. statue in MLK Park. The issue was compounded when city officials revealed the security camera covering the statue wasn’t functioning properly, leaving police without any solid leads on suspects.
Pastor accused of financial abuse
The pastor of the Second Samoan Congregational Church already had a high profile in Long Beach because of his unsuccessful campaigns for City Council, but this year, Misi Tagaloa got a new kind of scrutiny when he was charged with stealing more than $100,000 from a disabled veteran under his care. Tagaloa, who insists he was trying to help the man, is still awaiting trial on the charges.
Officer charged in child p*rnography case
When a Long Beach police officer was arrested in February on suspicion of using social media to share images of kids being sexually abused, that was just the beginning of the story. Soon, court documents revealed the LBPD had kept the officer on duty for months despite knowing he was a suspect in the investigation, and the officer even had an opportunity to wipe his phone before detectives could search it. The criminal case is still pending against the ex-officer, who was able to retire with his pension while he waits for trial.
A long-awaited trial
Years after she was arrested, former LBPD Detective Yvonne Robinson finally faced trial this year on charges she leaked police secrets to a local street gang. She was convicted in August and sentenced to probation.
Accusations of police lying
Two LBPD officers were arrested in December on suspicion of filing false police reports about an arrest nearly four years earlier. That gap in time has the potential to have wide-ranging impacts, with police combing through their other reports to see if there’s anything else prosecutors need to know.
LBPD Chief Robert Luna leaving
The news with the potential to have the biggest impact in local law enforcement came in September when Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna said he would retire at the end of the year. But that wasn’t the end of his announcements. Luna this month said he would run for Los Angeles County Sheriff, which is already shaping up to be a heated race with Luna criticizing incumbent Sheriff Alex Villanueva and saying he would fire deputies who refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Before the end of the year, Long Beach’s city manager had picked Luna’s replacement: LBPD Assistant ChiefWally Hebeish will step into the top LBPD job on Jan. 1.
