by Liz Mullen
Redondo murder suspect rearrested
Alexis Martinez, the man charged with killing Teddy Campos at the Redondo Beach Pier in February, is due in court later this month after the Redondo Beach Police Department re-arrested him. Campos was found shot in the head in a Pier parking lot stairwell on the morning of Feb. 16. He was 42.
The RBPD originally arrested Martinez, 29, on March 6 and charged him with Campos’ murder. Bail was set at $2 million.
But the RBPD was forced to release him with no bail when the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office declined to press charges, saying they needed more evidence.
“There were other things we had to work on that the D.A.’s office requested,” said RBPD Detective Jonathan Keener, in a phone interview with the Easy Reader. When Martinez was rearrested the District Attorney’s office charged him with murder. Martinez is currently being held in the Los Angeles County men’s central jail on $1 million bail.
Martinez pleaded not guilty at a hearing on March 25. The Inglewood resident proclaimed his innocence in a TikTok video between his two arrests.
Campos’ family, meanwhile, is relieved and grateful to RBPD that Martinez has been charged, his brother Andrew told Easy Reader.
“We were really angry and we couldn’t grieve our brother properly,” Andrew said because of Martinez being let out of jail in March.
“The detectives did everything they could and they treated us well,” Andrew said. The RBPD detectives, Andrew added, thought they had all the evidence they needed when they arrested Martinez the first time and were surprised when the District Attorney’s office declined to charge him, according to Andrew.
“They were upset just like we were,” Andrew said.
A hearing is scheduled in Torrance Superior Court on June 17 to set a date to hold a preliminary hearing in the case.
DA reviewing RB Elks Club assault
The Los Angeles District Attorney is reviewing an alleged assault at the Redondo Beach Elks Club, which occurred on Cinco De Mayo, May 5, and resulted in an 80-year-old club member Joseph Lordeon to be taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
RBPD arrested fellow Elks Club member Lamont Steele, 52, and charged him with elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon on May 20. The deadly weapons in this case were Steele’s hands “because of the injuries and the way things happened,” according to RBPD Detective Jonathan Keener.
“Patrol got a call about some kind of altercation that occurred,” Keener said. “We talked to a couple of people and the victim was transferred to the hospital.”
Steele had been in jail, but is now out on $110,000 bail.
The incident was first reported by The Daily Breeze. Steele is the husband of the Elks Club Exalted Ruler Nashana Steele.
Events leading up to the attack are in dispute, according to the Daily Breeze report. Lamont Steele believed that Lordeon assaulted his wife, something the 80-year-old denies, according to the paper.
“The case is under review,” Venusse Dunn, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney, wrote in an email.
Marine Avenue burglaries
Two businesses were burglarized on the 2700 block of Marine Avenue in Redondo Beach in the early morning hours of Saturday, May 18.
A thief or thieves took U.S. currency, coins and multiple boxes of sanitary wipes from one business.
The other, nearby business nearby suffered no loss after a suspect was unable to open a safe and unsuccessful in opening cash registers drawers.
A residential burglar got into the tent of a home tented for fumigation on the 600 block of Prospect Avenue. But the burglar fled after the homeowner activated an alarm while viewing the suspect in a ring camera.
Two Fords — a 2006 E-350 SUV and a 2022 F-250 pick up truck were burglarized during the week of May 17 to May 23.
Thieves took a Lenovo laptop, computer cards, traffic monitoring hardware, work keys, a jacket and an employee ID card, among other things from the F-250 on the 500 block of Juanita Street sometime between May 17 and May 20.
Thieves tried but were unable to break into the same pickup truck on May 21.
Two Hyundais were also burglarized during this time period.
HBPD deals with fraud, feuding roommates
Hermosa Beach Police Department officers dealt with a variety of crimes, including fraud, illegal narcotics, shoplifting, stolen e-bikes and feuding roommates.
A victim in the 2200 block of Monterey Boulevard received a package with a purported “police report” inside. The victim was asked by the suspects to fill in the missing information on the “police report.” The victim did so and mailed it back to the suspects.
The victim realized the whole thing was a scam when the suspects demanded money.
A suspect entered a store on Pier Avenue, took a dress and left without paying for it. Suspect put on the dress outside, was found and arrested.
On May 21, a locked e-bike was stolen from a bike rack on Pier Avenue and another e-bike was stolen from an open garage on Manhattan Avenue.
HBPD officers found occupants of four different vehicles to be in possession of controlled substances and/or paraphernalia during the week of May 19 to May 25.
The ongoing saga of the feuding roommates continued.
On May 24, one roommate entered the other roommate’s room and took items. On May 25, one roommate pointed a can of pepper spray at the other roommate.
HBPD officers found and returned to owners: A cell phone, a bicycle and keys.
HBPD officers also found a vehicle that was reported stolen but was actually misplaced nearby and a purse containing drugs and paraphernalia.
Two-fer shoplifter in Manhattan Beach
On May 21, a shoplifter was arrested for stealing items from the Old Navy store.
About 40 minutes after being released from the Manhattan Beach Police Department jail, the same shoplifter was re-arrested for stealing items from the Vons store. The suspect was given a citation and the stolen items were returned to Vons.
Another theft occurred at the Vons on May 25 — a grand theft. A suspect stole medications with a price tag of about $1,400. The suspect told the Vons employee, “Have a blessed day” and left the store.
MBPD officers responded to a report of persons on the top of the 8th Street water tower on May 26. When they arrived, two juveniles were already climbing down from the tower and fled the scene.
One of the juveniles was cited and released to a parent. The other got away. But MBPD impounded the two’s e-bikes for safekeeping.
There were 39 crime reports taken in Manhattan Beach for the week of May 23 to May 29, including one for assault, seven for theft, one for residential burglary and five for vandalism. ER
