STEFANIE DAZIO

Reporter

Dazio covers crime and criminal justice in California for The Associated Press, with a focus on Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Dodgers' designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, right, chats with his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara during an exhibition baseball game between Team Korea and the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 18, 2024. Ohtani’s interpreter and close friend has been fired by the Dodgers following allegations of illegal gambling and theft from the Japanese baseball star. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

The IRS is investigating Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter and an alleged bookmaker. Here’s what we know

Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball.

FILE -Ippei Mizuhara stands next to Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani and translates during an interview at Dodger Stadium on Feb. 3, 2024. Mizuhara has been fired by the Dodgers following allegations of illegal gambling and theft. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

Dodgers fire Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter after allegations of ‘massive theft’ from Japanese star

Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter and close friend has been fired by the Los Angeles Dodgers following allegations of illegal gambling and theft from the Japanese baseball star.

People walk through debris from severe storms Friday, March 15, 2024, in Lakeview, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Severe storms with tornadoes kill at least 3 in the central US

Severe storms with suspected tornadoes have damaged homes and businesses and killed at least three people in the central United States.

FILE - Nathan Hochman talks to reporters during a news conference at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Oct. 17, 2022. Hochman is among 11 candidates who are challenging Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón in the March 5 primary. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli,File)

Nathan Hochman advances to Los Angeles County district attorney runoff against George Gascón

Former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman and progressive incumbent George Gascón have advanced to a runoff for Los Angeles County’s district attorney.

FILE - Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón speaks during a news conference Feb. 22, 2023, in Los Angeles. Eleven candidates are challenging Gascón, a former police chief and two-term San Francisco district attorney, to lead the nation's largest prosecutor's office. The primary for Los Angeles County district attorney is March 5. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

Progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón advances to runoff

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has advanced to a runoff in his reelection bid. Gascón faced 11 challengers in Tuesday’s primary race.

FILE - Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón speaks during a news conference Feb. 22, 2023, in Los Angeles. Eleven candidates are challenging Gascón, a former police chief and two-term San Francisco district attorney, to lead the nation's largest prosecutor's office. The primary for Los Angeles County district attorney is March 5. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

Los Angeles County’s progressive district attorney leads in early results against 11 challengers

One of the country’s most progressive prosecutors Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón was leading in partial results in his bid for reelection against 11 opponents.

A lone camper truck moves north bound on the I-80 at the Donner Pass Exit on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Truckee, Calif. The most powerful Pacific storm of the season is forecast to bring up to 10 feet of snow into the Sierra Nevada by the weekend. (AP Photo/Andy Barron)

Stretch of I-80 shut down as monster blizzard dumps snow on mountains in California and Nevada

Meteorologists predict as much as 10 feet of snow is possible in the mountains around Lake Tahoe by the weekend.

Brian Nelson, left, and Kathleen Nelson, right, both of Bishop, Calif., pull kayaks into water at Badwater Basin, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. The basin, normally a salt flat, has filled from rain over the past few months. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Kayakers paddle in Death Valley after rains replenish lake in one of Earth’s driest spots

Kayakers have been paddling in one of the driest places on Earth after a series of storms battered California’s Death Valley and replenished Lake Manly.

FILE - Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón speaks during a news conference Feb. 22, 2023, in Los Angeles. Eleven candidates are challenging Gascón, a former police chief and two-term San Francisco district attorney, to lead the nation's largest prosecutor's office. The primary for Los Angeles County district attorney is March 5. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

Los Angeles County district attorney seeks reelection in contest focused on feeling of public safety

Los Angeles County voters are set to decide if embattled District Attorney George Gascón will remain the head of the nation’s largest prosecutor’s office.

NTSB investigators survey the site of an Airbus Helicopters EC-130 on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, near Halloran Springs, Calif. The crash in the Mojave Desert killed, Herbert Wigwe, CEO of one of Nigeria's largest banks along with his wife and son. (Peter Knudson/NTSB via AP)

Dark skies, bad weather could have led to fatal California helicopter crash that killed 6

U.S. safety investigators are looking into what caused last week’s helicopter crash that killed the CEO of one of Nigeria’s largest banks and five others.

This undated photograph shows Herbert Wigwe, chief executive of Access Bank, Nigeria in his Lagos office. Wigwe was killed Friday, Feb. 9, 2024 along with his wife and son when a helicopter they were riding in crashed near in Southern California's Mojave Desert. (AP Photo/Ayodeji Owolabi)

Nigeria mourns as authorities investigate helicopter crash that killed a major bank CEO

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a California helicopter crash that killed the CEO of one of Nigeria’s largest banks.

The Hollywood area of Los Angeles, is seen from a Baldwin Hills overlook Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. A 4.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Southern California coast near Malibu on Friday and was widely felt in the Los Angeles region, rattling windows and shaking shelves but bringing no reports of major damage or injuries. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

A 4.6-magnitude earthquake shakes greater Los Angeles. No reports of significant damage

An magnitude 4.6 earthquake has struck the Southern California coast near Malibu. But there have been no reports of damage or injuries. The U.S.

This undated photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department shows Assistant Chief Dominic H. Choi. Choi was named interim chief of the Los Angeles Police Department on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. Choi was unanimously appointed by the civilian Board of Police Commissioners, the mayor's office announced in a news release.(Los Angeles Police Department via AP)

The LAPD has an Asian American chief for the first time. He’s the son of Korean immigrants

An Asian American assistant chief has been named interim chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. taking charge of a force that mostly has been led by white men.

A local resident checks the damage to her neighbor's house after heavy rains and mud flows caused it to slide down from the hill in the Beverly Glen section of Los Angeles on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Southern Californians recount harrowing mudslides during deadly record-breaking storm

A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, is moving out of the region after a final drenching.

Workers survey a mudslide Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Los Angeles records 475 mudslides during historic storm that has drenched Southern California

Los Angeles officials says crews had responded to at least 475 mudslides and that seven buildings had been deemed uninhabitable since an atmospheric river-fueled storm moved into the region over the weekend.

FILE - Accompanied by deputy U.S. Marshal John Brophy, Patricia "Patty" Hearst, center, leaves the Federal building on April 12, 1976, in San Francisco, hours after her sentencing on a bank robbery conviction. The newspaper heiress was kidnapped at gunpoint on Feb. 4, 1974, by the Symbionese Liberation Army, a little-known armed revolutionary group. The 19-year-old college student's infamous abduction in Berkeley, Cali., led to Hearst joining forces with her captors for the 1974 bank robbery. Hearst, granddaughter of wealthy newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, will turn 70 on Feb. 20. (AP Photo, File)

Newspaper heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped 50 years ago. Now she’s famous for her dogs

Newspaper heiress Patricia “Patty” Hearst was kidnapped at gunpoint by the Symbionese Liberation Army, a little-known armed revolutionary group.

A car drives through a flooded parking lot in Huntington Beach, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Another ‘Pineapple Express’ storm is expected to wallop California

Another “Pineapple Express” storm is on its way to California, bringing with it the threat of dangerous flooding and mudslides.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the outgoing Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore discuss the city's 2023 crime statistics and safety priorities for 2024 amid the search for a new leader for the department at a news conference in Los Angeles Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Violent crime in Los Angeles decreased in 2023. But officials worry the city is perceived as unsafe

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Violent crime overall in Los Angeles decreased more than 3% in 2023, officials said Wednesday, despite a perception that the nation’s second-largest city is unsafe.

E. Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, discusses the sentencing of Stephen Beal, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, in Los Angeles, in connection with the 2018 bombing at his ex-girlfriend's spa that killed her and seriously injured two others. Beal was sentenced Friday to two concurrent life sentences, plus 30 years, in federal prison. (AP Photo/Stefanie Dazio)

Man sentenced to life plus 30 years in 2018 California spa bombing that killed his ex-girlfriend

A Southern California man has been sentenced to two life sentences plus 30 years for blowing up his ex-girlfriend’s spa business in 2018 with a package bomb, killing her and seriously injuring two clients.

FILE - New York Knicks owner James Dolan listens to a question during a news conference on March 18, 2014, in New York. A woman alleges that Dolan sexually assaulted her a decade ago and then set her up to be molested by now-imprisoned film producer Harvey Weinstein, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, in Los Angeles. His attorney says there is no merit to the allegations. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

Federal lawsuit accuses NY Knicks owner James Dolan, media mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault

A woman has alleged that New York Knicks owner James Dolan sexually assaulted her a decade ago and then set her up to be molested by now-imprisoned film producer Harvey Weinstein.

FILE - Los Angeles Police Chief Michael Moore speaks after being sworn in at the police academy on Thursday, June 28, 2018 in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles police chief announced his retirement Friday, Jan. 12, 2024 in an unexpected departure as the head of one of the nation’s largest law enforcement agencies.(AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

Los Angeles police chief announces retirement after tumultuous tenure marked by pandemic, protests

The Los Angeles police chief has announced he is retiring. Chief Michel Moore made the unexpected announcement Friday. His tenure will end in February.

In this courtroom sketch, President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden, center, appears alongside attorney Abbe Lowell, right, in front of Judge Mark C. Scarsi, left, in federal court, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, in Los Angeles. Biden pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal tax charges filed after the collapse of a plea deal that could have spared him the spectacle of a criminal trial during the 2024 campaign. (Bill Robles via AP)

Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to federal tax charges after an earlier deal imploded

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges filed after the collapse of a plea deal that could have settled the case against him.

Placer County sheriff vehicles are parked near the ski lift at Palisades Tahoe where avalanche occurred on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, in Tahoe, Calif. (AP Photo/Andy Barron)

Avalanche kills 1, injures 3 at California ski resort that once hosted Winter Olympics

An avalanche has roared through a section of expert trails at a California ski resort near Lake Tahoe. It killed one person and left three others with minor injuries.

Downtown Los Angeles is seen from an office building rooftop on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. A light but widely felt earthquake shook Southern California. There were no immediate reports of damage to buildings, other infrastructure or injuries. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake shakes a wide area of Southern California. No injuries are reported

A light earthquake has shaken a wide area of Southern California. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake struck at 10:55 a.m. Friday.

Wearing a protective suit, Arusyak Martirosyan, an investigator with the Los Angeles County Public Administrator's office, turns on a lamp while searching through a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, for clues that might lead to finding family members or relatives of a tenant who died in the hospital with no apparent next of kin. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Los Angeles County has thousands of ‘unclaimed dead.’ These investigators retrace their lives

A 74-year-old woman died alone in the hospital last year. It’s the job of investigators in a little-known and understaffed Los Angeles County department to find her family.

FILE - U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., right, and wife, Celeste, arrive at the federal courthouse for his trial in Los Angeles, Wednesday, March 16, 2022. On Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, an appellate court reversed a 2022 federal conviction against Fortenberry, ruling that he should not have been tried in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Court reverses former Nebraska US Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s conviction of lying to federal authorities

An appellate court has reversed a federal conviction against former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, ruling that he should not have been tried in Los Angeles.

People walk their dogs during a break between rain showers near the Golden Gate Bridge and Fort Point in San Francisco, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Slow-moving Pacific storm threatens to bring California flooding and mudslides

Heavy rains are drenching parts of California, bringing the threat of flooding and mudslides as millions of people gear up for holiday travel.

FILE - Kevin Aziz Riad shields his face as he stands in court, Aug. 15, 2023, in Compton, Calif. Aziz Riad, a Tesla driver who pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for a 2019 car crash in a Los Angeles suburb, will pay more than $23,000 in restitution. The restitution wraps up a case believed to be the first time in the U.S. prosecutors brought felony charges against a motorist who was using a partially automated driving system. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)

A Tesla driver to pay $23K in restitution for a 2019 Los Angeles crash that killed 2 people

A Tesla driver will pay more than $23,000 in restitution for the deaths of two people during a 2019 car crash in a Los Angeles suburb.

This undated image shows a self-portrait of entertainment marketing consultant Michael Latt, who was fatally shot inside his Los Angeles home on Monday, Nov. . Latt, 33, had worked on projects with filmmakers including Ryan Coogler and Ava DuVernay, as well as rap artist Common. (Sundance Institute via AP)

Entertainment consultant killed by woman who stalked his film director friend, prosecutors say

Prosecutors say a high-profile entertainment marketing consultant was targeted by a woman who had been stalking one of his friends, a film director, before she fatally shot him inside his Los Angeles home.

FILE - A California Highway Patrol officer stops a motorist in Anaheim, Calif., April 23, 2020. State authorities were investigating Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, after a California Highway Patrol officer shot and killed a man on a Los Angeles area freeway during a struggle over the weekend that was recorded on video. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)

Officials identify man fatally shot on a freeway by California Highway Patrol officer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man who was fatally shot by a California Highway Patrol officer in a struggle on a freeway that was captured on video was a 34-year-old from Los Angeles, officials said Tuesday.