METRO DIGEST: Supervisor honors doctor for 59 years of service

County Supervisor Janice Hahn honors Dr. Wilburn Durousseau for his 59 years of service to underserved communities as an obstetrician-gynecologist at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. During his career, Dr. Durousseau has delivered more than 10,000 babies.
Courtesy photo

Staff and Wire Reports 

LOS ANGELES — County Supervisor Janice Hahn recognized Dr. Wilburn Durousseau for his 59 years of service to underserved communities as an obstetrician-gynecologist at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, where among other accomplishments he delivered more than 10,000 babies. 

Dr. Durousseau also taught future physicians at King-Drew Medical Center in Willowbrook for 38 years.

“Whether as a caregiver to patients or educator and mentor to other physicians, Dr. Durousseau has touched countless lives over his almost six decades of service. To this day his devotion and commitment to his patients is remarkable,” Hahn said. 

In accepting the recognition from Hahn, Durousseau also expressed his gratitude to Hahn’s father Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, who led the effort to establish the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital to offer health care access to the African American and Latino communities of the area.

“With King, we were able not only to serve the area but also train physicians who were competent and comfortable in the area,” Durousseau said. 

Dr. Durousseau graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College before attending Howard University College of Medicine in 1962 and completing his OB-GYN residency in 1966. 

South L.A. man

admits robberies

LOS ANGELES — A South Los Angeles man pleaded guilty Feb. 24 to federal charges of committing armed robberies of mostly 7-Eleven stores during a nearly two-month crime spree in 2024.

D’Angelo Spencer, 27, entered his plea to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and interference with commerce by robbery, known as a Hobbs Act crime, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Sentencing is set for Aug. 25.

A 2024 indictment charges Spencer and three others — Charles Christopher, 25, of Compton; Jordan Leonard, 26, of Torrance; and Tazjar Rouse, 23, of Hollywood — with participating in the robberies.

In total, the defendants netted about $7,617 in cash from the crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Rouse and Leonard pleaded guilty last month to the Hobbs Act and firearm offenses, and are set to be sentenced in June.

Christopher has agreed to plead guilty next month.

The defendants face up to 20 years in federal prison for the Hobbs Act count and between seven years and life imprisonment on the gun charge, prosecutors noted.

Teen killed by

wrong-way driver

COMMERCE — A 16-year-old boy was killed in a two-vehicle collision stemming from an alleged wrong-way driver Feb. 22.

Officers tried to pull over a motorist shortly after 11 p.m. in the area of Eastern and Florence avenues, according to the California Highway Patrol.

An ensuing pursuit ended in a crash at 11:14 p.m. at Eastern Avenue and Randolph Street, authorities said.

A person seated on a bench at the location was killed, while a pedestrian walking inside a crosswalk had his legs severed, according to a watch commander at the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station.

Long Beach resident Rodolfo Rodriguez III was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two people inside the suspect’s vehicle suffered “extensive injuries” and were taken to a hospital. The driver was treated at a hospital before being taken to a county jail, the watch commander said. 

Man robbed, assaulted

at Culver City ATM

CULVER CITY — Police are investigating the holdup at an ATM in which two suspects repeatedly punched a victim and took $400 at gunpoint.

The robbery occurred about 11:40 p.m. Feb. 20 in the 5500 block of Sepulveda Boulevard, south of Sawtelle Boulevard, according to a Culver City Police Department statement.

A man had just withdrawn money from the ATM when two male suspects approached him, police said. The first suspect pointed a black handgun at the victim’s forehead, demanded the money, then punched him in the face, which caused him to fall to the ground, police said.

Both suspects repeatedly punched the victim while he was on the ground, then took about $400 in cash and fled on foot toward an alley, police said.

The victim suffered injuries described as minor.

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