Kyle Kiddy, the man arrested on April 11th with an arsenal of weapons at Zuma Beach is due in court May 17th.
Malibu resident Danette Eilenberg, fearing for her safety and the safety of beach goers, called the Lost Hills Station for help after an encounter with Kiddy, who was wearing a bulky trench coat with dark sunglasses acting strangely.
Deputies were dispatched immediately to the scene where they discovered the suspect, rummaging through his van.
Upon approaching the male suspect, deputies noticed the barrel of a modified rifle with scope slung around his shoulder concealed by his trench coat. Deputies drew their weapons and successfully detained the suspect who had 3 .22 caliber pistols additionally on his on his person and two shotguns with additional ammunition in his van.
Charges were filed against Kiddy at the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office April 14th, including four counts of a concealed weapon and six count of possessing a loaded weapon on his person or win his vehicle. Kiddy remains in police custody.
Upon obtaining the information and a statement about Kiddy’s arrest from the Lost Hills Station, Malibu Daily News reached out to NBC News reporter Robert Kovacik about the story. NBC ran the story alerting the region of the thwarted mass attack thanks to the heroic efforts of Eilenberg and deputies.
After the story aired, residents posted on Next Door and Malibu Facebook groups about sitings of Kiddy at Zuma Beach in the previous days and weeks before his arrest. Malibu resident Michael Morgan stated he was the first to call the station about Kiddy, however upon further research, the station confirmed Morgan called with a general, non-emergent complaint about Kiddy. Deputies were dispatched to the area however, Morgan was not there to direct deputies to him, nor was he in the area when deputies arrived. At no time before Eilenberg’s call to the station was there a report or call to the station describing Kiddy as armed or dangerous.
Captain Chuck Becerra issued this statement to Malibu Daily News yesterday:
“Suspect Kiddy is still in custody with a court date of May 17nth. Charges were filed with the District Attorney’s office and it is my hope that the District Attorneys holds him accountable to the full extent of the law. To clarify: the only emergent call LASD received regarding the suspect was on April 11, 2021. We have no reports of any other emergent calls, or calls for service at any other time. His vehicle was impounded as is protocol following an arrest of this nature. Kiddy’s female companion was not arrested as she did not take part in his crimes.”
Residents are still outraged by the City’s lack of communication with the community regarding the arrest which resulted in a Public Records Act request by concerned citizens.
The request yielded this email sent from Captain Becerra to former City Manager Reva Feldman informing her of the arrest describing the suspect as ready to “shoot it out” and the body cam footage was “scary” and showed “how quickly it turned bad”.
Feldman, already one foot out the door (she left the City Manager position May 1st) seemingly unfazed by the email or the need to notify residents responded to the Captain thirty hours later with nothing more than”Thanks for letting me know”.
Feldman has a history for disregarding public safety, most notably during the Woolsey Fire when the Feldman completely closed down City Hall for more than three weeks, abandoned residents and refused to provide emergency aid while the area was sealed off due to the devastation.
The Woolsey Fire wiped out a large portion of the west side of Malibu from Malibu Canyon to Encinal Canyon.
Barely four months into her tenure as City manager, Feldman forced out longtime Emergency Services Coordinator Brad Davis who left the City in October of 2016. The position wasn’t filled until 9 months later, leaving the City without an emergency liaison, a critical position in a disaster prone community like Malibu.
The City currently has Susan Duenas as the Public Safety Director however the department falls considerably short of providing communication to residents during critical emergency related events.
As promised, Sheriff Alex Villanueva has made key changes at Lost Hills station in an effort to stay true to his commitment to community policing.
In 2019, After the station failed to distribute key public safety information to the are during the Wendy Fire and Saddleridge fires, the first wildfire season after the devastating Woolsey Fire, Villanueva required the station to undergo extensive social media training which has resulted in robust messaging output by the station, not only to promote transparency, but to provide the highest level of public safety. The station goes to great lengths to reach the community tagging local media in all critical public safety information.
The Lost Hills Station continues to make key including another for felony gun possession on April 24th. The announcement was posted on their social media shortly after the arrest.
As a result of the pressure from the community, the City of Malibu entered discussions with the Sheriff’s Department recently to increase patrol levels in their contract, an adjustment that hasn’t been made in decades. The additional patrols, two, two-man car and one additional motor patrol would double what the City currently has contractually with LASD. The additional coverage could potentially start as of June 1st when the new fiscal year begin. The proposal is due to go before City Council for final approval.
Even with the additional coverage, the amount spent on law enforcement is well below the county wide average of 30% of City budget.
For now, beach goers can feel a bit safer knowing Kiddy is behind bars and the Lost Hills Station beach team is out patrolling the beaches on the weekends as of May 1st.
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