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Los Angeles’ police chief is warning the city is not prepared to secure the 2028 Olympics, citing staffing shortages and a lack of dedicated funding.

The warning comes amid heightened security concerns surrounding large-scale public events across the country.

Speaking during a City Council Budget and Finance Committee meeting Wednesday, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said the department lacks dedicated funding beyond a shared security pool with other agencies, the New York Post reported.

“LA28 confirms that they have zero police or other safety budgets,” McDonnell said. “While they do have a security budget, it doesn’t cover law enforcement.”

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“The funding that exists is for all agencies involved in the Olympics, not just the LAPD, and it will be restricted primarily to police officer overtime,” he added.

The Olympics Special Events Unit has determined Los Angeles will need roughly 6,700 officers across eight venues during the 2028 Games, according to the report.

Police will also require an additional 700 to 800 patrol vehicles — a need that is not fully funded.

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Officials warned the department is already losing more than 500 officers per year to attrition, driving up overtime costs.

The LAPD expects to log roughly 1.4 million hours of overtime this year, contributing to a projected $16.5 million deficit, the report said.

While Olympic organizers have said the federal government will help handle security, given the Games’ designation as a National Special Security Event, LAPD officials pushed back on that claim, calling it “inaccurate.”

Democratic Socialists of America member and Los Angeles City Council member Eunisses Hernandez questioned whether the scale of police deployment is necessary.

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“Do they all need to be cop cars?” she asked. “Can we not use school buses?”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the LAPD and LA28 for comment.

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A Romanian national who admitted to participating in a series of swatting calls and bomb threats targeting U.S. government officials — including members of Congress, Cabinet-level officials, federal judges and heads of federal law enforcement agencies — was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison.

Federal prosecutors asked the judge to impose a five-year sentence for Thomasz Szabo, 27, who pleaded guilty last June to conspiracy and threat charges.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson presided over the case in Washington, D.C. Szabo, who used the online aliases “Plank,” “Jonah,” and “Cypher,” pleaded guilty on June 2, 2025, to one count of conspiracy and one count of threats involving explosives, according to the Justice Department.

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“This administration will not tolerate attacks on the institutions and individuals who serve this country,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro. “Szabo was extradited from Romania to face justice in an American courtroom, and today he has reaped the consequences of his actions.”

Swatting — the act of making hoax threats to provoke a tactical law enforcement response at a target’s home — has become a prolific form of harassment in recent years and poses an increasing public safety hazard.

“Swatting is not just a nuisance — it’s extremely dangerous,” said U.S. Capitol Police Chief Michael Sullivan. “I am proud of our investigators, as well as thankful for our prosecutors and law enforcement partners for their steadfast efforts to ensure justice is served. This shows that we will cross the globe to track threats down.” 

Court documents state that beginning in 2018, Szabo organized online chat servers in Romania centered around “trolling.”

FEDS CHARGE 2 EUROPEANS WITH ‘SWATTING’ PLOT TARGETING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS

By 2020, prosecutors say he began his swatting campaign. Also charged in the scheme is Nemanja Radovanovic of Serbia.

In December 2023, Szabo instructed his associates to choose targets from both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Radovanovic and an associate, Alan Filion, allegedly targeted at least 25 members of Congress or their relatives, along with dozens of other state and federal officials.

“Over and over, police departments and other first responders were hijacked by the defendant and deployed to fictitious emergencies,” prosecutors wrote. “As a result, fewer personnel and resources were available to respond to real emergencies.”

The pair reportedly bragged to Szabo about their exploits, stating, “I did 25-plus swatting [calls] today,” and claimed they created “massive havoc in America” with “$500,000-plus in taxpayer [dollars] wasted in just two days.”

Szabo was extradited from Romania in November 2024. 

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Filion, who was 18 at the time of his sentencing in February 2025, also received four years in prison after pleading guilty to making approximately 375 swatting calls between August 2022 and January 2024.

Radovanovic’s case is still pending, according to officials.

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A man accused of targeting federal immigration agents and pretending to be one of them is now facing serious prison time after prosecutors say his stunt put law enforcement in danger.

Jaime Ernesto Alvarez-Gonzalez, 53, an illegal immigrant who overstayed a tourist visa decades ago, pleaded guilty Tuesday after admitting he impersonated a U.S. Border Patrol agent to interfere with deportation operations.

Authorities say the impersonation was deliberate and planned.

On Jan. 8, Alvarez-Gonzalez allegedly trailed a real Border Patrol agent through San Diego, Calif., in a black Ford F-150 dressed up to resemble an undercover federal vehicle.

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The truck appeared convincing at a glance, outfitted with a Border Patrol sticker, fake radio antennas, a dashboard lightbar and handcuffs hanging from the mirror, despite a license plate frame that misspelled “Federal” as “Ferderal.”

It worked well enough that the real agent believed he was being followed by another federal officer and pulled off his mission for safety.

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According to court filings, Alvarez-Gonzalez narrated the encounter in real time, claiming he was “on patrol” as he tracked the agent through city streets. At one point, he pulled alongside the agent at a stoplight and began recording him, later following him into a gas station parking lot and declaring he would stay on his “target.”

Prosecutors say Alvarez-Gonzalez, wearing a face mask and a “thin green line” hat, was actively searching for federal agents involved in ICE and Border Patrol operations.

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When agents confronted him, the situation escalated quickly.

Authorities say he shouted obscenities, ordered agents out of the Linda Vista neighborhood, and then called in what he described as his “reinforcements.” Multiple vehicles soon arrived and people began harassing and chasing federal agents onto the highway — an encounter Alvarez-Gonzalez filmed himself.

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He was arrested days later. But investigators say the impersonation was only part of the story.

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A series of photos shared by prosecutors show Alvarez-Gonzalez handling firearms at a Houston-area shooting range after traveling to Texas, despite being barred from possessing weapons. In one image, he is seen holding a Kalashnikov-style rifle alongside a caption referencing “Pancho Villa” in the United States.

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Additional images appear to show him displaying multiple rifles near a pickup truck and standing beside a Ford vehicle with a Texas license plate and markings resembling a “Ferderal Truck” label paired with a sheriff-style emblem.

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Authorities say other photos place him in front of an actual Border Patrol vehicle and, in a separate shot, near a heavily secured stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border, where he is seen wearing what appears to be a vest and badge while standing by a “No Trespassing” sign.

Investigators say they also recovered an FBI-style badge and found that Alvarez-Gonzalez had access to firearms, including a Glock pistol, along with ammunition tied to weapons he was not legally allowed to possess.

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Court documents further allege he tried to cover his tracks. While in custody, authorities say he called an associate and asked that law enforcement-style markings be removed from his vehicles. When agents later searched them, much of the apparent impersonation gear had already been taken off.

Following his guilty plea, Alvarez-Gonzalez now faces a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison on the firearms charges alone.

Fox News Digital reached out to his attorney.

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A male suspect allegedly stole a fire truck parked outside a Colorado jail early Wednesday morning, just moments after being released from custody, according to the Boulder Police Department (BPD).

Officials said the chaotic incident quickly triggered a multi-agency pursuit, prompting officers to deploy tire-deflation devices along a highway before the situation escalated into a brief foot chase outside of Denver.

Authorities identified him as 33-year-old Richmond Takashi Johnson, who they said has an “extensive criminal history.” He had originally been booked on third-degree trespassing charges prior to the alleged theft of the emergency vehicle.

The incident ultimately caused significant damage to the fire rescue engine and multiple responding vehicles from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, authorities said. An officer also sustained minor injuries during the pursuit. 

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According to the BPD, Johnson was first taken into custody around midnight after officers received reports of a man “trying to open the doors of cars and homes” in a residential neighborhood around 11:30 p.m. 

Following his release around 3:30 a.m., in accordance with Colorado statute, fire rescue crews arrived shortly thereafter in response to an unrelated medical call.

While crews were inside the jail booking lobby treating a patient, Johnson allegedly entered the fire engine and drove roughly one mile before being spotted by Boulder County Sheriff’s Office deputies, along with Boulder police.

Johnson allegedly continued driving and refused to stop for law enforcement, eventually reaching a major interstate roughly 10 miles to the east.

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Police from the nearby suburb of Longmont were then called in to assist, deploying stop sticks at at least three locations along the highway.

Johnson subsequently lost control of the truck after its tires deflated and fled on foot.

“He then jumped out of Engine 143 and ran away,” police said. “Within minutes he was arrested by Boulder County Sheriff’s deputies and Longmont Police officers.”

“Thankfully there were no serious injuries to any first responders or community members, however, a Boulder County Sheriff’s deputy sustained a minor injury from the foot pursuit of the suspect,” the department added. 

Johnson was not injured during his arrest.

The Boulder Fire-Rescue Engine 143, one of the city’s electric RTX engines, reportedly sustained significant damage and is being assessed by the city’s fleet division.

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Two Boulder County Sheriff’s Office vehicles also sustained major damage, while another sheriff’s unit suffered minor damage.

Johnson now faces nine new charges, including obstructing a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical service provider, rescue specialist or volunteer; two counts of felony motor vehicle theft; resisting arrest; reckless driving; felony criminal mischief involving damage to city property; felony vehicular eluding; reckless endangerment; and driving after revocation prohibited

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Authorities have arrested a man in the brutal murders of an Alabama mother, her pregnant teenage daughter and 12-year-old son, who were found bound in their home April 20.

Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said William Graham Oliver, 54, was charged with eight counts of capital murder, according to a report from local outlet WALA. He was booked into jail Tuesday.

Fox News Digital previously reported Mobile County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a home in Wilmer, Alabama, just after 2:30 a.m. April 20, where they found three bodies in separate rooms with their hands tied behind their backs.

The victims were identified as Lisa Gail Fields, 46, who was stabbed; Keziah Arionna Luker, 17, who was shot; and Thomas Cordelle Jr., 12, who had his throat cut and was nearly decapitated.

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Burch described the scene as “brutal” and noted the home was “left in disarray.”

Luker’s 18-month-old child was found unharmed in the home. Her unborn child, who was seven or eight months along, also died.

The unborn child’s father, who works offshore, triggered the discovery after he could not reach Luker when he saw her phone activated on Life 360, the sheriff said. Another family member went to check on her and found the deceased family.

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Burch said Oliver knew the family “for quite some time” and was inside the home “looking for something” the night before the bodies were found, according to the report.

“Very very tight timeline,” Burch told reporters. “Very solid circumstantial evidence at this point, and we feel confident that we have the right man.”

Burch said investigators have pinpointed what Oliver was allegedly looking for and his motive but did not release those details to the public, the outlet reported.

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Shortly after the killings, investigators said they believed more than one person was involved in the killings because the victims had been subdued using zip ties and flex cuffs. It is unclear if any additional suspects have been identified.

Jail records show Oliver was charged with first-degree theft of property in 2020, with other arrests dating back to 1990.

The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.